US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, who was arrested on May 26, 2010, is doing hard time at Leavenworth for allegedly sharing classified material with WikiLeaks. Whether he is guilty or not awaits to be seen but for now, like many a Guantanamo prisoner, he is being held indefinitely and away from the media spotlight.
Why does his case matter so much to you and me as Americans? Because someone leaked a quarter million secret U.S. government documents to WikiLeaks which released them to the world news media so that Americans and others could learn what the U.S. government is actually doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank goodness. How else can any people hold their government accountable when those people are kept in the dark by a government that keeps so much of its activities secretive.
That government accuses Manning of "aiding the enemy" which is a capital offense, punishable by death, although prosecutors have indicated they won't seek the death penalty. At first he was held in solitary confinement from July, 2010 to April, 2011 at the Marine Corp brig in Quantico, VA but Amnesty International and many legal scholars claimed his treatment was harsh, punitive and in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The government then moved him to Leavenworth, placing him among hardened criminals. Meanwhile 23 year old Manning waits to present his case. Is this what the U.S. now stands for? Is this rule of law or a vendetta meant to scare anyone else who might go public with secret U.S. government actions?
I believe the reason he has been locked away indefinitely without trial is the U.S. government is concerned that as part of his defense, Manning's lawyers will put the Iraq and Afghan Wars on trial, as well as the secretive actions the government takes to keep its citizens in the dark. This case may well even examine the huge and costly, non-competitive contracts given to the military industrial complex so understandably, the U.S. government wants Manning silenced.
Dick
Dick
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