Snowden, Manning and American Justice

Dear Mr. President,

On November 19, 2005 in Haditha, Iraq, 24 unarmed civilians including 7 children, a toddler, 3 women and a 76-year-old man in a wheelchair were gunned down by Marines at close range. None of those Marines spent a single day in prison—charges against 6 of them were dropped, a 7^th was found not guilty and the 8^th was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and reduced in rank. Today Col. Denise Lind refused to drop the “aiding the enemy” charge against Bradley Manning in spite of the government’s failure to show Manning was aware the information he released to WikiLeaks would be read by the enemy, knowledge the defense showed that even his trainers and supervisors were unaware of. Manning has spent more than 3 years in prison, one year under conditions of torture. The military justice system is a travesty. In today’s NYT Op-Ed (“The Drone That Killed My Grandson”), Nasser al-Awlaki says he is filing another suit in federal court demanding the U.S. government explain the justification for assassinating—without evidence, charges, or trial—his American son, Anwar, and his 16-year-old American grandson, Abdulrahman, in drone strikes in Yemen in 2011. In previous attempts to file suit, the court has ruled he has “no standing.” Yesterday a federal appeals court in New York reversed a ruling that prohibited indefinite detention authorized by the 2012 NDAA, ruling that the plaintiffs “lacked standing.” Indefinite detention is now the law of the land. (Today’s NYT, “Challenges To Policies On Terror Are Halted” p. A14) Also yesterday, a federal appeals court in Washington reversed a federal judge’s order to stop groin searches of Guantanamo prisoners. Edward Snowden was right to flee the U.S. He knew if he stayed he’d be locked up, silenced, tortured, never again set foot outside a prison. He knows there is no longer justice in America. The system is rigged, the outcomes whatever the State wants. In our Orwellian system, to spy on the spies is espionage and to reveal criminal activity by the government is treason. In 2008, you said that laws are not subject to the whims of rulers and that justice is not arbitrary and yet, that is exactly the path your administration has taken for the past 4 years, We no longer have a system of justice but a system of tyranny; we are no longer a democracy because democracy requires the rule of law and transparency. Your legacy, Mr. President, what you will be remembered for, is the Man Who Lost Democracy in America.