Wikileaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning Now Faces Court-Martial

There was a time when telling the truth about murder meant something...

Bradley Manning

(SALEM) - A US military tribunal has ruled that Army Intelligence analyst Private Bradley Manning, suspected of leaking classified information to Wikileaks, should face a court martial.

Laughably, I guess that's better than what some people might receive; as under the new U.S. National Defense Authorization Act, any American can be detained indefinitely without charges, the way Russia and East Germany used to do.

Manning leads the list of famous whistleblowers facing retaliation for speaking out. He is an American hero who still carries the values we are all raised with, his crime is having raised attention over illegal U.S. war crimes, all violations of international law.

In a Thursday statement, head of the tribunal Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza said that “reasonable grounds exist to believe that the accused committed the offenses alleged.”

Almanza recommended that “the charges be referred to a general court martial” on the accusations of leaking thousands of documents and “aiding the enemy.”

Aiding the enemy? I guess that depends on who the enemy is, because Manning's actions aided the American people, so that charge sounds a bit cannibalistic doesn't it?

Manning appeared for a pre-trial hearing in December, this was the event where prosecutors made their push for court martial, which they obviously won.

Manning, who is now 24, not that the photo above would indicate that... was arrested in May, 2010 in connection with the leak. It is clearly obvious that he is being abused while in custody, just like the inmates in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, because that is what Americans do.

The early conditions of his confinement reportedly drew international concern. His lawyers said he was subjected to 24-hour surveillance and was forced to stand naked at roll call. How's that for an Abu Ghraib analogy? It makes my blood boil when considering that arrangement. The U.S. military is full of cruel pricks, it is no surprise.

A top US state department spokesman, PJ Crowley, resigned after saying the military's treatment of the Wikileaks suspect was “ridiculous and counterproductive.” Manning faces life in prison if he is convicted.

I think though, that this will have no impact at all on the next Bradley Manning, the man with the most ironic name in history. The political leaders of this country had some 'manning up' that they failed to do.

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Tim King, summer 2008, covering the Iraq War

Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim is a former U.S. Marine.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

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