The US government wants to “send a message” that it does not
want any of its personnel to tell the US people that their US army is
committing war crimes.
That is the reason Bradley Manning has been accused of
“aiding the enemy.” What the army doesn’t say and what a lot of us already know
is that “enemy” is actually the US citizens of this country, many of whom want
to know when our troops are committing war crimes.
Military and government officials wanted to get at least 60
years for Manning in order to scare off any future whistle blowers. Instead he
got 35 years. But most of us are hoping we can count on brave people who are
not intimidated by our police state apparatus that does all it can to
intimidate people into keeping their silence on US war crimes. All day long NPR
has been talking about military officials wanting to “burry Manning at Leavenworth.”
According to NPR
Manning’s lawyer attorney David Coombs has said:
“The sentence and the
initial aiding-the-enemy charge sends a "chilling message" to
whistleblowers that comes "all the way from the top."
"This
administration has gone after more whistleblowers than anyone," said
Coombs.
The
Washington Post said:
“The government had asked the judge to sentence Manning to
60 years. “There is value in deterrence, your honor; this court must send a
message to any soldier contemplating stealing classified information,” said
Capt. Joe Morrow, a military prosecutor. “National security crimes that
undermine the entire system must be taken seriously.”
National security for this government means keeping its
citizens dumb and uninformed. People like Bradley only inform the populace of
the kind of brutal empire they are supporting. That is something this
government have clearly stated they don’t intend to tolerate.
Manning is also to be dishonorably discharged. The army has
stopped at nothing to prove it will come down on all whistle blowers with every
tool of repression they have. There are no exceptions. The mighty state has
spoken and they got some of what they wanted to a man who would warn the US
people of war crimes by its military.
-សតិវ អតុ
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