Accused Pentagon whistleblower faces death penalty

A national rally to support Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused Army whistle blower, will take place on March 20 at the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va. It was called by the Bradley Manning Support Network, Veterans for Peace, Courage to Resist, CodePink and others.

Manning has been held in torturous conditions at Quantico for seven months. He is in “maximum security confinement” in a single, bare cell 23 hours a day. The other hour is for solitary exercise under a guard’s supervision.

In early March, Manning was forced to remain naked for hours, supposedly for “suicide prevention.” (New York Times, March 2) “This type of degrading treatment is inexcusable and without justification,” wrote his lawyer, David Coombs. “It is an embarrassment to [the U.S.] military justice system and should not be tolerated.”

A Marine spokesperson claimed the step was “not punitive.” President Barack Obama said that he had been assured that measures such as forcing Pfc. Manning to sleep without clothing were “justified and for his safety,” the Times said. (March 11)

Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary told MSNBC that the conditions of Manning’s confinement are attributed to “the seriousness of the charges he’s facing, the potential length of sentence, the national security implications and to protect him from potential harm.” (March 3)

On March 2, the Pentagon announced the addition of 22 new charges, including “aiding the enemy,” which carries the death penalty.

The New York Times said, “The charge sheet did not explain who ‘the enemy’ was, leading some to speculate that it was a reference to WikiLeaks. On Thursday, however, the military said that it instead referred to any hostile forces that could benefit from learning about classified military tactics and procedures.”

The military charges that Manning “copied a database of more than 250,000 diplomatic cables between March 28 and May 4, 2010.” He is accused of giving them to WikiLeaks, which published them on the Internet and in three newspapers in Europe and the U.S. The release was a major embarrassment to the U.S. military and diplomatic machine and touched off accusations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the Pentagon, congressional militarists and right-wing talk show hosts.

The Pentagon is making an example of Manning to warn anyone who would dare follow in his footsteps. It is also a warning to any major media outlet that might dare to publish WikiLeaks’ material.

Demonizing WikiLeaks and Manning is a gigantic smokescreen meant to discredit and taint any coverage of the potentially damaging news items from WikiLeaks, which might see the light of day in the mainstream media. The brutal overreaction suggests the released items are merely the tip of an iceberg of incriminating evidence, which the Pentagon and all of official Washington are desperate to keep hidden.

A live, raw video of a helicopter attack on Iraqi civilians, released by WikiLeaks in April 2010, caused a major scandal for the White House and the Pentagon. The counterattack to criminalize the source and publisher of this footage was revealing.

“It’s beyond ironic that leaked U.S. State Department cables have contributed to revolution and revolt in dictatorships across the Middle East and North Africa, yet an American may be executed, or at best face life in prison, for being the primary whistleblower,” said Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist. “Millions [here and abroad] ... understand the contribution of Pfc. Manning towards not only freedom of information, but literally freedom itself.”

Anti-war hero Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971, exposing plans and strategy for the U.S. war against Vietnam, calls Bradley Manning courageous and a hero. Ellsberg spent about two years in prison for his acts.

For more information on the demonstration on March 20, go to CourageToResist.org. Buses will go to Quantico from Washington, D.C.’s Union Station on March 20, following a national anti-war protest in the capital city on March 19.