Obama’s torture of Bradley Manning

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SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL 2013 9 “He (Richard Nixon) would probably also feel vindicated (and envious) that all the crimes he committed against me—which forced his resignation facing impeach­ ment—are now legal.” — Daniel Ellsberg One phase of Bradley Manning’s torture is coming to an end and another is begin­ ning. PFC Bradley Manning did this coun­ try and the world a great service when he leaked footage of the carnage carried out by the United States in Iraq. Manning’s video showed Iraqi journalists and a fam­ ily with small children under fire from an Apache helicopter. The audio of the foot­ age featured the servicemen who we are told to worship laughing about the fate of the people they had killed.

The only remarkable thing about this footage is that we were able to see it. Oc­ cupation always brings with it atrocities, and the occupation of Iraq was no differ­ ent in that regard. What is different and much worse about the United States is that lawlessness has now become per­ fected and normalized under the Obama administration.

George W. Bush began the process of destroying the rule of law as it relates to the executive branch. As he said, he was “the decider,” and his administration worked tirelessly to make the presidency unaccountable to any other branch of government or to the American people. Beginning in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks he claimed that executive priv­ ilege gave him the right to declare anyone an enemy combatant who immediately lost the right to due process. He invented the “black sites” in nearly every part of the globe where enemy combatants were subjected to torture. These actions were counter to all moral norms, international law and the Geneva Conventions. Before the Bush era, these standards kept even the worst American intentions in check.

Bush committed these crimes with the help of craven Democrats like Nancy Pe­ losi, who were informed of torture and rendition and gave full approval. Not only did they prove themselves to be as evil as Bush but their incompetence deprived them of the ability to even exact political advantage when the time was ripe.

The worst aspects of the Bush admin­ istration were not undone by Barack Obama, and they were perfected and made a permanent part of United States government policy. Simply put, Barack Obama has done more damage to civil liberties than any other president in American history.

Bradley Manning is but one victim of the Obama regime. The Obama admin­ istration has prosecuted more whistle blowers than any other president. Bush claimed the right to capture and torture but he didn’t claim the right to kill at will like his predecessor. Even Dick Cheney didn’t have a Tuesday kill list meeting.

Manning was held for nearly three years without being charged, and in solitary confinement. He was forced to sleep without clothing or blankets, and was denied visits, even from members of Congress. This treatment has always been considered torture, and the fact that it was meted out by Obama shouldn’t change the definition.

Manning’s torture, from being charged with aiding and abetting the enemy to solitary confinement, can be laid at the feet of Barack Obama. Bradley Manning did not kill anyone, he didn’t lie to the people or the media. He only revealed what his country was doing. In his words, he wanted to “spark a domestic debate of the role of the military and foreign policy in general and cause society to reevalu­ ate the need and even desire to engage in counterterrorism and counterinsur­ gency operations that ignore their effect on people who live in that environment every day.”

Those words are not particularly note­ worthy. They describe a rather pedes­ trian and sensible desire to do what any citizen of a democracy should want to do. Yet in this era of ever expanding impe­ rialism and the crushing of people here and abroad those words are dangerous.

The Obama administration decided to crush Bradley Manning’s spirit and to make an example of him. They still hope to find some way of prosecuting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and post his head on a spike alongside Manning’s. After PFC Manning spends the rest of his life in jail, no one is likely to consider re­ vealing even the most innocuous infor­ mation to the public.

As Barack Obama makes good on the fantasies of Reagan and the Bushes, it would be important to know that his crimes might be revealed. Instead, he has made certain that they will remain secret forever. Manning and Assange are not only the best heroes but they will be the last too. n This is reprinted from BlackAgendaRe­ port.com. Margaret Kimberley’s “Freedom Rider” column appears weekly in BAR. She also maintains a blog at http://freedom­ rider.blogspot.com.

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website: http://socialistaction.ca But can you recall the last time a “free thinker,” a non-believer, or a flaming atheist got equal billing with a pope, a