Can“Justice”Sink Lower Than the Bradley Manning Case?
by Marti Hiken and Luke Hiken /
March 4th, 2011
Every day we are confronted with another
atrocity perpetrated by
our government and its leaders against the people of the world,
including our own citizens. The decision to charge Bradley Manning with a
crime punishable by death is certainly the low point of American
jurisprudence. It is on a par with the show trials put on by Stalin and
Hitler, and marks the peak of prosecutorial hypocrisy.
This trial has everything: torture, intimidation, gross overcharging,
media hype and pathological lies. It is the highest form of drama put
on by those who would destroy democracy in the U.S.
Since his arrest in May of 2010, Manning has been incarcerated under
conditions that Amnesty International (AI) says is torture, coupled with
sensory deprivation. AI has filed complaints with the United Nations,
attempting to force the U.S. to comply with minimal standards of conduct
towards prisoners.
When WikiLeaks started publishing documents indicating the lies and
distortions that the U.S. was engaged in throughout the world, Hillary
Clinton called the action “treasonous” and called for immediate
prosecution. Her claims were so preposterous as to be ignored by the
government and the President. Now, 10 months later, the spineless White
House, and an emboldened Pentagon, are complying with Hillary’s demand.
Don’t just charge Manning with a crime, kill him. Only by threatening to
kill the messenger can the government accomplish the intimidation and
retaliation needed to silence dissent in the Armed Forces and abroad.
And what was it that Manning did? Did he engage in war crimes, by
killing innocent civilians? Did he violate international law by using
drones (unmanned flying bombs) against civilian populations? Did he beat
or degrade foreigners in order to weaken their resolve to oppose
anything demanded by Americans?
No, he didn’t do any of that. Those acts of savagery result in a
choruses of “support our troops” and similar chants. The beasts who
order those kinds of crimes are highly paid officers, mercenaries, and
followers of the corporate cowards running this country. Manning’s
crimes were of a different quality: he showed a video of U.S. helicopter
pilots firing missiles at unarmed civilians to a chorus of cheers from
our brave warriors in the air. He then allegedly provided information to
the press and the American people about the illegal actions of our
government, all in the form of U.S. memos and missives.
In other words, he provided information to the American people, while
informing the world at the same time of how dishonest and twisted our
conduct abroad has been. According to the White House, the Pentagon, and
the powers that be, this is “aiding the enemy,” a crime punishable by
death. The “enemy” in this case, is clearly the American people. As
Manning stated shortly after his arrest: “I want people to see the truth
regardless of who they are because without information, you cannot make
informed decisions as a public.”Wired Magazine, June 10, 2010 and )
The government’s goal in trying to kill Manning is transparently
obvious: whistleblowers will be silenced by this country. The U.S.
cannot continue to murder and pillage at will, unless the American
people know little to nothing of our conduct.
Yet, there is another reason that Manning is a perfect target and
foil for a war-mongering nation like the U.S. – he is gay. This fact is
not one that you will ever read about or hear from military officers.
But just as the Tea Party is affronted and outraged that a Black man is
the President of the U.S., so is the military doubly hateful of Manning
for his sexual preference. White southerners (and many northerners)
cannot tolerate the fact the Obama is President, not merely or mainly
because of his policies, but rather, because of his race. Thus, their
need to demonize him as a foreigner, as a socialist, as un-American.
Just as Fox News refuses to acknowledge the role that race plays in the
Republican hatred of Obama – so does the military remain silent about
Manning’s sexuality.
Charging Manning with a death penalty offense is akin to trying Joan
of Arc for being a witch. Lesbian soldiers can no more lead the French
Army in a successful campaign against an enemy and get away with it,
than a gay corporal can share with the American people the nature and
depth of our international lawlessness. Death is the only answer a
dictatorial regime can seek.
Luke Hiken is an attorney who has engaged in
the
practice of criminal, military, immigration, and appellate law. Marti
Hiken is the director of Progressive Avenues. She is the former
associate director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and former chair
of the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force. Read other articles by
Marti Hiken and Luke Hiken, or visit Marti Hiken and Luke Hiken's website.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/03/can%E2%80%9Cjustice%E2%80%9Dsink-lower-than-the-bradley-manning-case/#more-30130
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Digest: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
