American
peace hero?
Bradley
Manning, the soldier accused of providing WikiLeaks with thousands of sensitive
US documents, was doing the right thing and is being unjustly treated by the
Pentagon, believes Brian Becker, director of the anti-war coalition, ANSWER.
Becker says
if it is true that Manning was the one who released the documents, he will be
considered a hero in US history. “He took a stand as obviously willing to pay a
very difficult price, possibly life in prison, possibly the death sentence, for
exposing a criminal war.”
Becker
claims that Private Manning is receiving an unfair trial and doubts the whole
idea of justice in this case.
“Military
justice is to justice, as military music is to music. And we know that Bradley
Manning has been held wrongly. He’s been held in solitary confinement, he’s
been prejudged by the military and by the media. He has been stripped naked and
forced into solitary confinement, that’s a kind of torture.”
“And yet
Bradley Manning, who exposed the Pentagon’s actions, exposed the Bush
administration’s actions, is being treated as if he is the one who should be
punished. That’s turning justice upside down. It’s ‘Alice-in-Wonderland’ kind
of reality, and it’s a great miscarriage of justice,” Becker stated.
Becker
insists that by carrying out this trial the Pentagon is sending a threatening
message to all whistleblowers. “They are the 700-pound gorilla, they want to
send a message to all other whistleblowers ‘If you dare speak up, or speak out,
or reveal our crimes –we will punish you.’”
‘The
American people need to know what’s going on’
Ray
McGovern, former CIA officer, told RT that the charges against Manning are
“laughable.”
“There has
been no indication of serious damage to US personnel or those who cooperate
with the United States,” he explained. “What the damage is, is the revelation
of things that the American people should know about.”
McGovern
says Manning wanted this to lead to a discussion and some reconsideration of
the kind of policies that he had witnessed.
Speaking to
RT, Seton Motley, president of lessgovernment.org, criticized Manning saying:
“Just because you don't like the country's foreign policy, doesn't mean that
you can out it to the planet.”
However,
McGovern insists that “there are gradations of values here. And that’s what
Bradley Manning saw. He saw the torture, he saw the other abuses, he saw the
feckless war and said: ‘The American people need to know what’s going on so
they can make more enlightened decisions’.”
“I applaud
Bradley Manning,” he concluded.
Kevin Zeese
from the Bradley Manning Support Network says his supporters do not think
Manning is a traitor.
“He didn’t
sell documents to foreign enemies. He didn’t profit from them,” Zeese told RT.
“What he allegedly gave to media were low-level documents, low security. In
fact they should not have been classified documents at all.”
“This trial
is an embarrassment to the US military and the United States. It shows a great
deal of fear of the truth. And fear of the truth is what’s driving this
prosecution,” he said.
Jayel
Aheram, an anti-war activist and Iraq War veteran from California, believes one
cannot expect justice to be in line with US foreign policy.
“If you do
things that are in line with US foreign policy, you will not see any sort of
justice. But if you challenge this machine – that’s what we can see with
Bradley Manning – the heavy hand of the American government will slam down on
you,” he told RT.
Reporters Without Borders condemns attacks on WikiLeaks
“Revelations on the WikiLeaks website which have enraged governments around the world should force the traditional media to rely less on official sources, award-winning journalist John Pilger said.” - (Reuters)
“If Wikileaks didn't exist and these documents were being published by the newspapers alone would anyone really be calling for the imprisonment of those responsible? Wikileaks is simply a new player in the game, offering to host and publish stories and documents that embarrass those in power. On balance, that's a good thing.” (Spectator)
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