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Video: Keep an American Soldier Locked Up Naked in a Cage, Drive Him Half Mad, Deprive Him Of All Basic Rights, and You Will be Instantly Condemned as a Barbaric Terrorist. Unless You are Fellow Americans…
“Bradley Manning, the heroic whistle-blower who exposed war crimes through WikiLeaks, has won the Guardian’s Person of the Year 2012. He received an astounding 70% of the vote, revealing an incredible amount of public support. And finally, the New York Times after a long year of silence, has sent a reporter to cover the trial, yet many are critical that he left after an hour.”
After being interned like some wild animal in that cage in Kuwait, WikiLeaks whistle blower Pfc. Bradley Manning was transferred to the Quantico, Va., Marine base and further subjected to conditions that his lawyer termed “criminal.” Not all that far from the White House, and yet our ever-enlightened president seems not to have noticed that this soldier, whose alleged criminal offense is that he attempted to inform the public of crimes committed in its name, has been held in an environment clearly created to destroy his his very sense of self.
As Manning’s lawyer, David Coombs, a lieutenant colonel in the Army reserves and a veteran of 12 years of active duty, put it: “Brad’s treatment at Quantico will forever be etched into our nation’s history as a disgraceful moment in time.” Coombs warned that the most serious charge facing his client, “aiding the enemy,” is a “scary proposition” designed to “silence a lot of critics of our government.”
Who is that “enemy” other than the public that came to be informed about the true nature of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by news reports based on a trove of documents allegedly made available to the WikiLeaks website by Manning? The documents were labeled secret, but as the many important news reports based on them revealed, they contained information that an enlightened public had a need and right to know.
Yet for too many in the mainstream media, led by the example of the editors of The New York Times, the recent military courtroom proceedings where Manning’s lawyer finally got to document the government’s attempt to destroy his client were largely a nonevent. Conveniently so, given that the Times and other major news outlets that were thrilled to exploit the information that Manning uncovered are deeply afraid of being associated with the brave whistle-blower himself.
Even though there is a tremendous groundswell of support, Bradley Manning is still locked up in your name, fellow Americans… td
