The end of U.S. military involvement in Iraq coincided with Bradley Manning's military hearing to determine whether he will face court-martial for exposing U.S. war crimes by leaking hundreds of thousands of pages of classified documents to Wikileaks. In fact, there is a connection between the leaks and U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq.
When he announced that the last U.S. troops would leave Iraq by year's end, President Barack Obama declared the nine-year war a "success" and "an extraordinary achievement." He failed to mention why he opposed the Iraq war from the beginning. He didn't say that it was built on lies about mushroom clouds and non-existent ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. Obama didn't cite the Bush administration's "Plan for Post-Saddam Iraq," drawn up months before 9/11, about which Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill reported that actual plans "were already being discussed to take over Iraq and occupy it - complete with disposition of oil fields, peacekeeping forces, and war crimes tribunals - carrying forward an unspoken doctrine of preemptive war."
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also defended the war in Iraq, making the preposterous claim that, "As difficult as [the Iraq war] was," including the loss of American and Iraqi lives, "I think the price has been worth it, to establish a stable government in a very important region of the world."
The price that Panetta claims is worth it includes the deaths of nearly 4,500 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. It includes untold numbers wounded -- with Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder -- and suicides, as well as nearly $1 trillion that could have prevented the economic disaster at home.
The price of the Iraq war also includes thousands of men who have been subjected to torture and abuse in places like Abu Ghraib prison. It includes the 2005 Haditha Massacre, in which U.S. Marines killed 24 unarmed civilians execution-style. It includes the Fallujah Massacre, in which U.S. forces killed 736 people, at least 60% of them women and children. It includes other war crimes committed by American troops in Qaim, Taal Al Jal, Mukaradeeb, Mahmudiya, Hamdaniyah, Samarra, Salahuddin, and Ishaqi.
The price of that war includes two men killed by the Army's Lethal Warriors in Al Doura, Iraq, with no evidence that they were insurgents or posed a threat. One man's brain was removed from his head and another man's face was skinned after he was killed by Lethal Warriors. U.S. Army Ranger John Needham, who was awarded two purple hearts and three medals for heroism, wrote to military authorities in 2007 reporting war crimes that he witnessed being committed by his own command and fellow Lethal Warriors in Al Doura. His charges were supported by atrocity photos which have been released by Pulse TV and Maverick Media in the new video by Cindy Piester, "On the Dark Side in Al Doura - A Soldier in the Shadows." CBS reported obtaining an Army document from the Criminal Investigation Command suggestive of an investigation into these war crimes allegations. The Army's conclusion was that the "offense of War Crimes did not occur."
One of the things Manning is alleged to have leaked is the "Collateral Murder" video which depicts U.S. forces in an Apache helicopter killing 12 unarmed civilians, including two Reuters journalists, and wounding two children. People trying to rescue the wounded were also fired upon and killed. A U.S. tank drove over one body, cutting the man in half.
The actions of American soldiers shown in that video amount to war crimes under the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit targeting civilians, preventing the rescue of the wounded, and defacing dead bodies.
Obama proudly took credit for ending U.S. military involvement in Iraq. But he had tried for months to extend it beyond the December 31, 2011 deadline his predecessor negotiated with the Iraqi government. Negotiations between Obama and the Iraqi government broke down when Iraq refused to grant criminal and civil immunity to U.S. troops.
It was after seeing evidence of war crimes such as those depicted in "Collateral Murder" and the "Iraq War Logs," also allegedly leaked by Manning, that the Iraqis refused to immunize U.S. forces from prosecution for their future crimes. When I spoke with Tariq Aqrawi, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, at a recent international human rights film festival in Vienna, he told me that if they granted immunity to Americans, they would have to do the same for other countries as well.
Manning faces more than 30 charges, including "aiding the enemy" and violations of the Espionage Act, which carry the death penalty. After a seven day hearing, during which the prosecution presented evidence that Manning leaked cables and documents, there was no evidence that leaked information imperiled national security or that Manning intended to aid the enemy with his actions.
On the contrary, in an online chat attributed to Manning, he wrote, "If you had free reign over classified networks... and you saw incredible things, awful things... things that belonged in the public domain, and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC... what would you do?"
He went on to say, "God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms... I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public."
Manning has been held for 19 months in military custody. During the first nine months, he was kept in solitary confinement, which is considered torture as it can lead to hallucinations, catatonia and suicide. He was humiliated by being stripped naked and paraded before other inmates.
The U.S. government considers Manning one of America's most dangerous traitors. Months ago, Obama spoke of Manning as if he had been proved guilty, saying, "he broke the law." But Manning has not been tried, and is presumed innocent in the eyes of the law. If Manning had committed war crimes instead of exposing them, he would be a free man today. If he had murdered civilians and skinned them alive, he would not be facing the death penalty.
Besides helping to end the Iraq war, the leaked cables helped spark the Arab Spring. When people in Tunisia read cables revealing corruption by the ruling family there, they took to the streets.
If Manning did what he is accused of doing, he should not be tried as a criminal. He should be hailed as a national hero, much like Daniel Ellsberg, whose release of the Pentagon Papers helped to expose the government's lies and end the Vietnam War.
Marjorie Cohn is a professor of law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and past president of the National Lawyers Guild. Her books include "Rules of Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of Military Dissent" and "The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse." See www.marjoriecohn.com.
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It's something to Occupy about in the New Year.
Very difficult, next to impossible at this late date to unearth the truth.
A president had been mördered with no legal consequences and moral redemption.
Drug rings had been co-opted in the "Asian iron triangle", and in other parts of the world, to finance illegal covert activities to subvert + destabilize nations, with no legal consequences.
Multi-trillion dollars had been looted. The looting? That's very difficult to prove, of course.
Just this one recent congressional testimony would reveal the tip of the iceberg of pervasive corruption the American people endure:--
"New American Century"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fk6qkHs0oM (Watch video from 1:17:15)
"In the meantime, the Pentagon had registered the disappearance of over 2 Trillion dollars in one fiscal year alone."
In Senate confirmation hearings for Defense Department Secretary Rumsfeld:--
SENATOR BYRD: "When DoD's own auditors say that the Department cannot account for 2.3 Trillion dollars in transactions in one year alone ... "
SECRETARY RUMSFELD: "It is . . . ummmmm . . . . (speechless, gesturing in the air) "
SENATOR BYRD: "It's a terrible record. It's preposterous that the Defense Department doesn't know what's happened to this money."
So now for some truth...can u handle it? I can ......8 min. from one of our own in the thick of it.......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcMk3V3LZcQ
However, there is a legal responsible that people with access to classified information on a classified system must adhere to in reporting…… evidence of a crime on a classified system does not preclude prosecution….. However, there is system to report it through………
Of course the problem with the system is/was everybody was turning a blind eye, at the lead of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld…..
The U.S. government considers Manning one of America's most dangerous traitors. Months ago, Obama spoke of Manning as if he had been proved guilty, saying, "he broke the law…… actually Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld are the most dangerous traitors to the U.S. and they get to write books about it and to TV interviews!!!!
More Coffee...
R/ PRONESE
It would appear that he is being punished as we speak. His treatment has been despicable. But his violation of the public trust can not be ignored. If he had just released the video of the copter murders and several other instances of violations of international and national law I would be most sympathetic. I am not concerned that he might have embarrassed quite a few politicians. But in the process he released innumerable un-redacted secret documents with considerable hazard to real human beings supporting our national efforts, right or wrong. He had no such compunction as our national safety.
In short he is just a mixed up kid who, in the balance, did a stupid and illegal thing. I don't think his wanton act should be encouraged. But I do not think he should be destroyed for his mistake, only punished in a humane manner that allows him to contemplate the error of his ways and go on to seek redemption after serving a fitting sentence..
Where are the adults in this conversation? People are allowing their sympathies for the man and his plight to drive the argument that RELEASING THE COUNTRY'S secrets to the entire world including OUR MORTAL ENEMIES is somehow brave and romantic.
You have to be completely divorced from reality to think that the US doesn't have enemies. Have you NOTICED how many countries we've been invading lately? PEOPLE HATE OUR GUTS, and for those who don't hate us, they probably wouldn't shed any tears if someone took us out. Our own policies have contributed greatly, to this, as most liberals can agree.
So by saying that what Manning did is GOOD, you are saying that hastening or orchestrating the downfall of your own country is FINE AND DANDY. Personally, my sympathy for the people this country has ticked off doesn't extend to wanting them to destroy the country with me and my family and friends in it.
This is a simple matter of self- preservation. If EVERY SOLDIER DID WHAT MANNING DID, we would be done for. We have made too many enemies to aaford being vulnerable by way of insecure, unhappy, egocentric little boys (because those are the things he was, often by his own description and comments) to use their 20-something,
Professor Cohn said a few specific things very clearly, and you can't understand it or take it, so you ramble on about the general bull crap.
First, Manning's revelation of evidence about US occupation forces killing Iraqi civilians without legal consequences had in large measure made it openly impossible for the Iraqi people and their parliament to continue granting legal immunity to US occupation forces in future, thereby shortening any viable continuation of occupation, thereby shortening the war and occupation, thereby saving many American lives. Any mature adult historical interpretation of that act and fact and ramifications would conclude that Manning singlehandedly did Americans a great national service, by shortening America's war on Iraq. Anything difficult for an obtuse mind to comprehend that objective truth?
In response, what does the Army and military establishment do to Manning for his alleged misdeeds? They locked him up in illegal and inhuman complete solitary confinement for 18months, to break him. Is that abuse of constitutional protection of Americans that you're so proud of?
You don't know the basic principles of what the American tradition of constitutional democracy is all about, and you brag about being a "liberal"? I got some prime marshland realestate in Florida to sell you.
This article is about the conclusion of the war in Iraq, and everything that didn't go right during that war. As the article is suppose to be about Bradley Manning, the author does include several paragraphs about him.
Most people instinctively understand and agree that ...
serial rapists and serial killers are through and through criminals and enemies of people and threat to society, and that sooner or later they would be caught and punished in the system of justice.
But, somehow when the criminal deeds come from serial war-mongers, they subvert the system of justice, they corrupt the moral standards of the nation, they debauch the nation's treasury and economic well-being, subject to the people of this nation and other nations to immense tragedies of death, injuries and destruction, ...and they get away with it, and get elected and re-elected to preside over the nation's security and to protect the people's wellbeing, ...
is there anything in collective human behavior so bizarre, so crazy, so insane, so destructive, so unjust, so morally corrosive, so soul-deadening, as this phenomenon ?
"At the time that more than 250,000 secret documents were alleged to have been passed to WikiLeaks, Manning was said to have been suffering from gender identity disorder. He created an alter ego called Breanna Manning, who had her own Facebook page and email address. He also sent an email to the head of security in his unit in which he appended a photo of himself dressed as a woman. "It makes my entire life feel like a bad dream that will not end," Manning said of his gender issues in a letter to his superior."
Here's a more complete, and less biased account of the Article 32 investigation: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/23/bradley-manning-pre-trial-hearing
This poor guy is in a lot of trouble, and we shouldn't laugh, but it's hard to read about this side of the case and not think of this classic comedy character: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss8JijcU2uU&feature=fvst
Hero? Traitor? Looney-Tune? You figure it out?
If he did do it, then he committed a valid crime, and should be punished. Acquitting him on the grounds that "it needed doing" would set the precedent that every individual with access to classified data gets to decide for themselves whether to declassify it. Which would lead to a completely insane free-for-all clusterf**k in the intelligence community.
However, the government's treatment of him in using solitary confinement as a punitive measure for the crime he was charged with, may be valid grounds to release him. They don't get to do that sort of thing either.