Probably, yes. But then there's the question who is actually more responsible for putting people in harm's way in Afghanistan, the US military and those who have kept the war going for nine years or those who question the war by shining sunlight on its operations?
Let's not kid ourselves, the tally for collateral damage on the side of the US military is a gruesome embarrassment. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is highly critical of it. Plus, this kind of killing is the precise subject of Bradley Manning's original leak, the Apache nose video called "Collateral Murder."
When it comes to Iraqi and Afghan civilian deaths, the battle between the US military and WikiLeaks over who deserves the most damnation for collateral damage is grotesquely asymmetrical.
We need to go easy on PFC Manning for the foibles of his young, troubled life. And we need to focus on WikiLeaks and the need to address the regime of secrecy that allows our leaders to sustain a war like the one in Afghanistan that no longer makes any sense and is bankrupting the nation financially and morally.
More public attention needs to be focused on Manning's human right to be treated in a dignified manner as he approaches a trial. He deserves to be allowed visitors and to have a battery of smart civilian lawyers. Before he is a pawn of the US Army, he is an American citizen. Why should he not be given bail? Finally, like Daniel Ellsberg's before him, Manning's story is important, and reporters should be allowed access to interview him.
The condition of rigid seclusion he is being held in is a perfect example of the regime of secrecy at the very heart of this story.
The post-9/11, Guantanamo-style tactic of solitary confinement calculated to psychologically maim or destroy a person is simply un-American. It needs to be discontinued. Though there is absolutely no similarity between the two cases, the rigid pre-trial seclusion of Jose Padilla in a brig in South Carolina turned that individual into a walking basket case by the time of his trial. This cannot be done to Bradley Manning.
When a soldier signs a contract with the United States military he does not relinquish his fundamental human rights and the right to be treated with dignity. That means the right to outside attorneys and to visits from his family and his friends. Justice is the goal, here, not the pre-trial destruction of a human being.
There's more at stake here than plugging leaks. As in the Pentagon Papers 39 years ago, what's at stake is American citizens' right to know.
For the original essay, go to This Can't Be Happening at
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/163
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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