When you join the armed forces, are you accepting on that day to turn a blind eye to any war crimes that you may witness in service to your country?
This is the ultimate question that Private First Class Bradley Manning answered when he leaked documentation nearly three years ago. Tuesday, a military judge acquitted Bradley Manning on the charge of aiding the enemy. The worst account he faced as a result of answering the above question with a defiant 'No!'. He was convicted of multiple counts of violating the Espionage Act. The verdict marks the end of this three-year-long chapter that began with Manning's arrest in Iraq and subsequent detainment in Kuwait and Quantico, Virginia.
The military typically needs to be held to a higher standard when it comes to it's information and intelligence, but this time feels very different from the 'loose lips sink ships' mentality that the Espionage act seems to be born of. We are not in any true fear of loosing the ground war. I'd bet against any group of Taliban or insurgents trying to take out a well manned military post in Afghanistan or Iraq any day, that war was won, resoundingly, but the threat that Bradley Manning is not a threat to that war, he is a threat to the War for Peace.
When is it OK for member of the military, or any government organization for that matter, to shed light on atrocities knowing that you are defying the law? In 2008, then presidential candidate Barack Obama ran on a platform that praised whistle blowing as an act of courage and patriotism. It said it was one of the last resorts of catching a runaway government that would abuse it's power. This platform has been comprehensively betrayed. His campaign document described whistle blowers as watchdogs when government abuses its authority. It was removed from Obama's old campaign site last week.
Obama, or perhaps more accurately the Office of the President, may feel a need to protect this information, this is where the argument gets a little hazy though, because throughout the proceedings there has been a conspicuous absence: the absence of a victim. The prosecution did not present evidence that, or even claim that, a single person came to harm as a result of Bradley Manning’s disclosures. The government never claimed PFC Manning was working for a foreign power. The only ’victim’ was the US government’s pride, but the prosecution of this young man was never the way to restore it. Rather, the abuse of Bradley Manning has left the world with a sense of disgust at how low the Obama administration has fallen. It is not a sign of strength, but of weakness.
What Bradley Manning showed the world, knowing full well he would have to suffer the consequences of his actions, was that the US was not only loosing the War for Peace around the world, it had almost no authentic interest in winning it. That we fight battles with little regard for anything other then perception. The ability to claim a big name kill, while sweeping the faces of dozens of innocent bystanders under the rug. Was anyone surprised to know that these atrocities occurred? No, but the ability to claim moral superiority in our cause was hampered, if not outright destroyed. Not because we had it and now lost it, but because the truth is now exposed. This is the legacy of Bradley Manning. To this end we now find ourselves well past the point of pursuing justice for attacks of 9/11, or even seeking peace for this volatile region.
The true issue we now face is that having poked the bear, kicked the bee hive, and awaken this dragon, how do we declare some form of victory? We find ourselves in a seemingly never ending cycle of retaliation from retaliations. To stop is to open oneself up to attack, to attack is to open oneself up to retaliation. We might no longer be in a position where we can truly win.
Bradley Manning did not do this, he merely warned the world of the way things are.
This is the ultimate question that Private First Class Bradley Manning answered when he leaked documentation nearly three years ago. Tuesday, a military judge acquitted Bradley Manning on the charge of aiding the enemy. The worst account he faced as a result of answering the above question with a defiant 'No!'. He was convicted of multiple counts of violating the Espionage Act. The verdict marks the end of this three-year-long chapter that began with Manning's arrest in Iraq and subsequent detainment in Kuwait and Quantico, Virginia.
The military typically needs to be held to a higher standard when it comes to it's information and intelligence, but this time feels very different from the 'loose lips sink ships' mentality that the Espionage act seems to be born of. We are not in any true fear of loosing the ground war. I'd bet against any group of Taliban or insurgents trying to take out a well manned military post in Afghanistan or Iraq any day, that war was won, resoundingly, but the threat that Bradley Manning is not a threat to that war, he is a threat to the War for Peace.When is it OK for member of the military, or any government organization for that matter, to shed light on atrocities knowing that you are defying the law? In 2008, then presidential candidate Barack Obama ran on a platform that praised whistle blowing as an act of courage and patriotism. It said it was one of the last resorts of catching a runaway government that would abuse it's power. This platform has been comprehensively betrayed. His campaign document described whistle blowers as watchdogs when government abuses its authority. It was removed from Obama's old campaign site last week.
Obama, or perhaps more accurately the Office of the President, may feel a need to protect this information, this is where the argument gets a little hazy though, because throughout the proceedings there has been a conspicuous absence: the absence of a victim. The prosecution did not present evidence that, or even claim that, a single person came to harm as a result of Bradley Manning’s disclosures. The government never claimed PFC Manning was working for a foreign power. The only ’victim’ was the US government’s pride, but the prosecution of this young man was never the way to restore it. Rather, the abuse of Bradley Manning has left the world with a sense of disgust at how low the Obama administration has fallen. It is not a sign of strength, but of weakness.
What Bradley Manning showed the world, knowing full well he would have to suffer the consequences of his actions, was that the US was not only loosing the War for Peace around the world, it had almost no authentic interest in winning it. That we fight battles with little regard for anything other then perception. The ability to claim a big name kill, while sweeping the faces of dozens of innocent bystanders under the rug. Was anyone surprised to know that these atrocities occurred? No, but the ability to claim moral superiority in our cause was hampered, if not outright destroyed. Not because we had it and now lost it, but because the truth is now exposed. This is the legacy of Bradley Manning. To this end we now find ourselves well past the point of pursuing justice for attacks of 9/11, or even seeking peace for this volatile region.The true issue we now face is that having poked the bear, kicked the bee hive, and awaken this dragon, how do we declare some form of victory? We find ourselves in a seemingly never ending cycle of retaliation from retaliations. To stop is to open oneself up to attack, to attack is to open oneself up to retaliation. We might no longer be in a position where we can truly win.
Bradley Manning did not do this, he merely warned the world of the way things are.
I am Bradley Manning and YOU are Bradley Manning whether you know it or not. http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2013/06/we-people-are-bradley-manning.html
ReplyDelete