Damning the Manning

Usually this blog is a happy place for sharing happy links and videos and other random, cool stuff. Well, this post is different.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 6 months, you probably know what Wikileaks is. Yes, it's controversial, but I think, by in large, that it's fantastic. Sure, you can argue that it puts national security at risk, but if you do, your argument is weak at best. I have yet to see a single thing come out of Wikileaks that put an American life at risk—other than Bradley Manning's.

Manning is the 23-year-old U.S. Army intelligence analyst who leaked a bunch of classified information to Wikileaks, which in turn made the information (cables) public. He's since been arrested and is currently being held in solitary confinement in Virginia. He's spent more than 200 days in a 6 x 12' cell, and is let out (into a larger room, goodie) just one hour per day.

Imagine having essentially no human contact for 6+ months. Just try to wrap your head around that. And, remember, he has yet to be convicted. If convicted, he could face the death penalty... even though he didn't kill anyone, and his actions didn't result in a single death or injury. The U.S. Army sustained a few bruises to its ego, but that's it.

As the poster that I every-so-gingerly copied and pasted at the bottom of this post states:

"Manning faces decades in prison [or death] for allegedly leaking a video of a US helicopter attack that killed 11 civilians and wounded 2 children in Baghdad, Iraq. The army covered up the evidence and declared the war crime justified, now they claim that exposing the massacre is criminal.

This is a massive human rights issue. As this column, published in The Guardian, points out:

"The US condemns human rights abuses abroad yet appears to be allowing the psychological torture of Bradley Manning."

The piece is a quick, informative read—so read it! And, as a citizen of the world, it is your civic duty to keep up with this story. Still, I can already tell you the lesser moral, here: Don't enlist in the U.S. Army. (Look what happened to Pat Tillman. Get The Tillman Story on Netflix ... it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year, is narrated by Josh Brolan, and will scare the shit out of you.) Mark my words: Years from now, Manning will heralded as a hero. A martyr, perhaps, but a hero nonetheless.