Saturday, April 09, 2011

Dear Mr. President,

"Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal.” (Obama, 2008) I know, just a campaign promise. Every politician makes them, every politician breaks them. But you were elected because people thought you were different, a man of principle who would do the right thing. After 26 months in office however, you have proven to be just another politician, no better than your predecessor. With neither a trial nor a pretrial hearing, Bradley Manning has been held in solitary confinement in a Marine brig for 254 days under maximum security: 23 hours a day in a windowless cell, shackled when he is taken to a bare exercise room where he is unshackled and allowed to walk but not run or do any other activity for an hour a day and, since March 2, stripped naked every night and every morning forced to stand at parade rest in front of his cell for inspection before his clothes are returned. Even military psychiatrists say these conditions are unjustified. And now, after weeks of negotiation, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and a representative from Amnesty International have been denied requests for an official visit. Why? Because “official visits” are not subject to monitoring. The Government maintains that none of the above are entitled to an official visit because they are not conducting official government business, but in their “generosity” they will permit an “authorized visit” even though they have not “established a proper relationship with the prisoner prior to confinement” as required under the Brig rule. An “authorized visit,” of course, IS monitored. Manning leaked all those “State Secrets” to WikiLeaks as a matter of conscience; he could no longer participate in what he felt were war crimes and cover-ups by the U.S. military in Iraq. He is accused of “aiding the enemy” although based on the documents released so far, the enemy appears to be We the People. Manning’s treatment is torture, another discarded promise—that you would end torture—and an effort to break him so you can prosecute Julian Assange and shut down WikiLeaks. Manning is a political prisoner and you are a hypocrite and a liar, no different than any other tyrant who abuses power, violates human rights and suppresses the truth. Ten years from now Bradley Manning will be recognized as a hero of democracy and you will be just another politician who contributed to the demise of democracy and freedom.