The US military today announced the first of what may be multiple charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning, the intelligence analyst at the center of the leaking of several embarrassing classified datas to the WikiLeaks whistleblower website.
The charges are related to an early April release of a classified video showing US military helicopters killing at least a dozen civilians in Baghdad, including two employees of Reuters news agency. The video had been sought by Reuters for years before WikiLeaks finally obtained a copy.
Officials have suggested Manning released upwards of 260,000 classified items to WikiLeaks, though WikiLeaks has denied receiving anything near that many. He had reportedly become disillusioned with the war effort while serving in Iraq, with an incident in which he discovered Iraqi police arresting people for publishing criticisms of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and was instead ordered to “help them find more detainees” looming particularly large in media reports.
Though the Pentagon is said to be “hunting” WikiLeaks’ founding Julian Assange, it does not appear to Assange has committed anything resembling a crime in the matter, and Manning, who can be tried under the military code of justice, is facing much of the fallout for the embarrassing leaks.
Yes, Pfc. Manning is a true American hero and patriot. He understands what the American Revolution was all about. It was fought to defend and uphold the God-given and natural rights of every human being (yes, I know, it would take another two centuries for black Americans to fully realize their rights). Pfc. Manning understands that "WE hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, and that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Those rights were later codified in the Constitution as the Bill of Rights. Yes, Pfc. Manning understands that the unjustified, immoral, aggressive, imperialistic and murderous wars in the Middle East are, in fact, war on the basic right to human life itself. If a mere private in the US Army understands that, why can't the generals in the Pentagon and America's political leaders understand that? Oh America, America, how far hath thou fallen!