As commander in chief, you\u2019ve been responsible for the treatment of the most
\n high-profile whistleblower in the history of the U.S. armed forces. Under your
\n command, the United States military tried \u2013 and failed \u2013 to crush the spirit
\n of Bradley Manning.<\/p>\n
Your failure became evident after the sentencing on Wednesday, when a statement
\n from Bradley Manning was read aloud to the world. The statement began: "The
\n decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and
\n the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9\/11, our country has
\n been at war. We’ve been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on
\n any traditional battlefield, and due to this fact we’ve had to alter our methods
\n of combating the risks posed to us and our way of life. I initially agreed with
\n these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my country."<\/i><\/p>\n
From the outset, your administration set out to destroy Bradley Manning. As More than nine months after Manning\u2019s arrest, at a news conference you defended<\/a> At a fundraiser on April 21, 2011, when asked about Manning, you flatly said<\/a>: Bradley Manning\u2019s statement after sentencing on Wednesday said: "It Public accountability is essential to democracy. We can\u2019t have meaningful "consent Bradley Manning clearly understood that. He didn\u2019t just follow orders or turn After being sentenced to many years in prison, Manning conveyed to the American "Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts Clearly, Mr. President, you have sought to make an example of Bradley Manning From the White House, we continue to get puffed-up sugar-coated versions of Imagine. After more than three years in prison, undergoing methodical abuse He acknowledged, "I understand that my actions violated the law; I
\n his biographer Chase Madar wrote<\/a>
\n in The Nation<\/i>, "Upon his arrest in May 2010, he was locked up in
\n punitive isolation for two months in Iraq and Kuwait, then nine more months
\n at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia. Prohibited from lying down during
\n the day or exercising, he was forced to respond every five of his waking minutes
\n to a guard\u2019s question: \u2018Are you OK?\u2019 In his final weeks of isolation, Manning
\n was deprived of all clothing beyond a tear-proof smock and forced to stand at
\n attention every night in the nude."<\/p>\n
\n this treatment \u2013 which the State Department\u2019s chief spokesman, P.J. Crowley,
\n had just lambasted as "ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid."
\n (Crowley swiftly lost his job.) Later, the UN special rapporteur on torture
\n issued a report on the treatment of Manning: "at a minimum cruel, inhuman
\n and degrading."<\/p>\n
\n "He broke the law." His trial would not begin for two more years.<\/p>\n
\n was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis
\n that I started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this
\n time I realized that (in) our efforts to meet the risk posed to us by the enemy,
\n we have forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue human life
\n both in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we perceived were the
\n enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians,
\n instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind
\n the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any
\n public accountability."<\/i><\/p>\n
\n of the governed" without informed consent. We can\u2019t have moral responsibility
\n without challenging official hypocrisies and atrocities.<\/p>\n
\n his head at the sight of unconscionable policies of the U.S. government. Finding
\n himself in a situation where he could shatter the numbed complacency that is
\n the foundation of war, he cared \u2013 and he took action as a whistleblower.<\/p>\n
\n public an acute understanding of our present historic moment: "In our
\n zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated the definition of torture. We
\n held individuals at Guantanamo for years without due process. We inexplicably
\n turned a blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government. And we
\n stomached countless other acts in the name of our war on terror.<\/i><\/p>\n
\n are advocated by those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown out any
\n logically based dissension, it is usually the American soldier that is given
\n the order to carry out some ill-conceived mission."<\/i><\/p>\n
\n with categorical condemnation and harsh punishment. You seem not to grasp that
\n he has indeed become an example \u2013 an inspiring example of stellar courage and
\n idealism, which millions of Americans now want to emulate.<\/p>\n
\n history, past and present. In sharp contrast, Bradley Manning offers profound
\n insights in his post-sentencing statement: "Our nation has had similar
\n dark moments for the virtues of democracy \u2013 the Trail of Tears, the Dred Scott
\n decision, McCarthyism, and the Japanese-American internment camps \u2013 to mention
\n a few. I am confident that many of the actions since 9\/11 will one day be viewed
\n in a similar light. As the late Howard Zinn once said, \u2018There is not a flag
\n large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.\u2019"<\/i><\/p>\n
\n and then the ordeal of a long military trial followed by the pronouncement of
\n a 35-year prison sentence, Bradley Manning has emerged with his solid humanistic
\n voice not only intact, but actually stronger than ever!<\/p>\n
\n regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my
\n intent to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to disclose
\n classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and a sense of
\n duty to others."<\/i><\/p>\n