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Too Bad Bradley Manning Didn’t Go to Penn State

Posted by Sue Udry

12:09 PM Jul 18, 2012

What if, instead of joining the Army, Bradley Manning had gone to Penn State?

Chances are, he wouldn’t have witnessed or heard about Jerry Sandusky abusing young boys... but if he had, he would not have remained silent. He would not have covered up a crime out of some misguided sense of institutional loyalty. He wouldn’t have worried about the repercussions. He would have exposed the truth.

Manning is the Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking thousands of State Department cables and the video “Collateral Murder,” which shows a U.S. Apache helicopter gunning down 11 unarmed civilians, including children. The leaked information exposes war crimes and human rights abuses that admittedly do make the United States look less than honorable, but in order to hold criminals accountable, you have to expose the crime.

But it isn’t the soldiers who fired on unarmed children who are being held accountable, it isn’t the State Department officials who engaged in bribery or otherwise bent the rules who are on trial. It’s Bradley Manning. Today he sits in a courtroom at Fort Meade in pre-trial hearings for his Court Martial. He’s already spent two years in jail, including 10 months in solitary confinement (against military protocol). He faces life in prison.

“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?”

“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.”

-Quotes from an online chat attributed to Bradley Manning

“Oh, but!” you say, “He should have reported his concerns to the proper authorities instead of handing classified information to wikileaks.” Sadly, it just doesn't work that way. Have you heard about the scientists at the Food and Drug Administration who tried to play by the rules? They had concerns about FDA approval of medical devices that exposed patients to excessive radiation. Although they raised those concerns through proper channels, the FDA targeted not only the scientists for surveillance, but the members of Congress and others with whom they communicated. And, six of the scientists were fired! That's the way our government treats people who courageously stand up to the powers that be. (Read more about government harassment of these and other whistleblowers here and at whistleblowers.org)

Joe Paterno gets a statue. Whistleblowers trying to protect the public get spied on, harassed, fired or end up in jail.

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WFGJUxkFX — 07:45 AM Aug 05, 2012

If Bradley made public scerets and cover-ups of war crimes committed by his employer then he did the right thing, in anybody's language, in any court-room, in all parts of the world. He's a patriotic all-American that blew the whistle on a corrupt regime. I admire him and wish him all the best for what lies ahead. xox

dCpciZTqnLGx

WFGJUxkFX — 07:45 AM Aug 05, 2012

dCpciZTqnLGx

WFGJUxkFX — 07:45 AM Aug 05, 2012

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