Marjorie Cohn: The Uncommon Courage of Bradley Manning!

Bradley Manning has pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including possessing and willfully communicating to an unauthorized person, all the main elements of the Wiki Leaks disclosure. The charges carry a total of 20 years in prison. For the first time, Bradley spoke publicly about what he did, and why. His actions, now confirmed by his own words, reveal Bradley to be a very brave young man. When he was 22 years old, Bradley spoke publicly about what he did, and why. His actions, now confirmed by his own words, reveal Bradley to be a very brave young man. When he was 22 years old, Pfc Bradley Manning gave classified documents to Wiki Leaks. They included the Collateral Murder video, which depicts US forces in an Apache helicopter, killing 12 unarmed civilians, including two Reuters journalists, and wounding two children. I believed if the public, particularly the American public, could see this, it could spark a debate on the military, and our foreign policy in general, as it applied to Iraq and Afghanistan, Bradley told the military tribunal during his guilty plea proceeding. It might cause society to reconsider the need to engage in counter terrorism, while ignoring the human situation of the people we engaged with every day. Bradley said he was frustrated by his inability to convince his chain of command, to investigate the Collateral Murder video, and other war porn documented in the files he provided to Wiki Leaks. I was disturbed by the response to injured children. Bradley was bothered by the soldiers depicted in the video, who seemed to not value human life, by referring to their targets as dead bastards. People trying to rescue the wounded, were also fired upon and killed. A US 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. No one at Wiki Leaks asked, or encouraged Bradley to give him the documents, Bradley said. No one associated with the WLO Wiki Leaks Organization, pressured me to give them the documents, Bradley said. No one associated with the WLO, Wiki Leaks Organization, pressured me to give them the documents, Bradley said. No one associated with the WLO, Wiki Leaks Organization pressured me to give them more information. The decision to give documents to Wiki Leaks was mine alone.