Whistle-blowers Are Our Friends

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FREE BRADLEY MANNING NOW!
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Remember Daniel Ellsberg? He is the whistle-blower who brought the Nixon Administration down. The Pentagon Papers exposed the top-secret military history of the United States involvement in Vietnam. Did that make our country better or worse? I vote for better.

The Bradley Manning case is nothing more than an embarrassment to the military. But that’s neither here nor there. It certainly isn’t what we, as Americans, should be most concerned about.

Manning is still being held in a military brig in Quantico, Virginia. He is in solitary confinement and is not permitted to exercise. He is forced to remain naked for long periods of time, suggesting torture.

Who is in charge of this pre-trail punishment? What happened to the speedy trial concept?

The Sixth Amendment (Amendment VI) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which sets forth rights related to criminal prosecutions. The Supreme Court has ascribed the protections of this amendment to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment when convenient?

Here is the text: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Just as with the Vietnam War, the Iraq War was based on lies. We were never threatened by weapons of mass destruction or al Qaeda in Iraq, though the attack on Iraq was based on this false information. Any information which challenges the official propaganda for the war in the Middle East was unwelcome by the Bush administration and the supporters of these unnecessary wars.

Few are interested in understanding the relationship of our foreign policy and our presence in the Middle East to the threat of terrorism. Revealing the real nature and goal of our presence in so many Muslim countries is a threat to our empire, and any revelation of this truth is highly resented by those in charge.

Which brings us back to the Bradley Manning debacle. Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime and the United States should not discourage it.

Bradley Manning should not be used as an example to discourage others. His inhumane treatment is unconscionable. It appears his jailers are torturing him illegally. How will it be explained if he  ultimately dies?

Please check out www.standwithbrad.org today to sign the new public statement.