Bradley Manning is Obama's Disgrace
Detail from artist Lea Kelley's mixed medium work on canvas (a gift to me), Your Mother's Voice
The followiing excerpts are from Constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald's article written for The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. entitled:
Bradley Manning: a tale of liberty lost in America
The U.S. does nothing to punish those guilty of war crimes or Wall Street fraud, yet demonises the whistleblower
Published Friday 30 November 2012
EXCERPTS Reporting from the hearing, the Guardian's Ed Pilkington quoted Manning: "If I needed toilet paper I would stand to attention and shout: 'Detainee Manning requests toilet paper!'" And: "I was authorised to have 20 minutes sunshine, in chains, every 24 hours." Early in his detention, Manning recalled, "I had pretty much given up. I thought I was going to die in this eight by eight animal cage."
The repressive treatment of Bradley Manning is one of the disgraces of Obama's first term, and highlights many of the dynamics shaping his presidency. The president not only defended Manning's treatment but also, as commander-in-chief of the court martial judges, improperly decreed Manning's guilt when he asserted in an interview that he "broke the law".
Worse, Manning is charged not only with disclosing classified information, but also the capital offence of "aiding the enemy", for which the death penalty can be imposed (military prosecutors are requesting "only" life in prison). The government's radical theory is that, although Manning had no intent to do so, the leaked information could have helped al-Qaida, a theory that essentially equates any disclosure of classified information – by any whistleblower, or a newspaper – with treason.
.... Compare this aggressive prosecution of Manning to the Obama administration's vigorous efforts to shield Bush-era war crimes and massive Wall Street fraud from all forms of legal accountability. Not a single perpetrator of those genuine crimes has faced court under Obama, a comparison that reflects the priorities and values of US justice.
.... As usual, the US establishment journalists have enabled the government every step of the way. Despite holding themselves out as adversarial watchdogs, nothing provokes their animosity more than someone who effectively challenges government actions.
Typifying this mentality was a CNN interview on Thursday night with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange conducted by Erin Burnett
[see Alex Kelly's fine piece on Truthdig (linked in the 1st comment below) about this typical CNN disgrace. Ms. Burnett is an ex Citibank Vice President, & Goldman Sachs analyst, etc., ugh, barf, ugh].
Please continue to full text:
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/30/bradley-mann...
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Bradley Manning is Obama's Disgrace
Detail from artist Lea Kelley's mixed medium work on canvas (a gift to me), Your Mother's Voice
The followiing excerpts are from Constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald's article written for The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. entitled:
Bradley Manning: a tale of liberty lost in America
The U.S. does nothing to punish those guilty of war crimes or Wall Street fraud, yet demonises the whistleblower
Published Friday 30 November 2012
EXCERPTS Reporting from the hearing, the Guardian's Ed Pilkington quoted Manning: "If I needed toilet paper I would stand to attention and shout: 'Detainee Manning requests toilet paper!'" And: "I was authorised to have 20 minutes sunshine, in chains, every 24 hours." Early in his detention, Manning recalled, "I had pretty much given up. I thought I was going to die in this eight by eight animal cage."
The repressive treatment of Bradley Manning is one of the disgraces of Obama's first term, and highlights many of the dynamics shaping his presidency. The president not only defended Manning's treatment but also, as commander-in-chief of the court martial judges, improperly decreed Manning's guilt when he asserted in an interview that he "broke the law".
Worse, Manning is charged not only with disclosing classified information, but also the capital offence of "aiding the enemy", for which the death penalty can be imposed (military prosecutors are requesting "only" life in prison). The government's radical theory is that, although Manning had no intent to do so, the leaked information could have helped al-Qaida, a theory that essentially equates any disclosure of classified information – by any whistleblower, or a newspaper – with treason.
.... Compare this aggressive prosecution of Manning to the Obama administration's vigorous efforts to shield Bush-era war crimes and massive Wall Street fraud from all forms of legal accountability. Not a single perpetrator of those genuine crimes has faced court under Obama, a comparison that reflects the priorities and values of US justice.
.... As usual, the US establishment journalists have enabled the government every step of the way. Despite holding themselves out as adversarial watchdogs, nothing provokes their animosity more than someone who effectively challenges government actions.
Typifying this mentality was a CNN interview on Thursday night with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange conducted by Erin Burnett
[see Alex Kelly's fine piece on Truthdig (linked in the 1st comment below) about this typical CNN disgrace. Ms. Burnett is an ex Citibank Vice President, & Goldman Sachs analyst, etc., ugh, barf, ugh].
Please continue to full text:
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/30/bradley-mann...
###