Sartre Batr: Ignoring Whistleblowers!

A government whistle-blower, disclosing classified secrets, risks criminal charges. Defining restricted material, usually includes a broad scope of information, that casts officials or agencies in a compromising embarrassment. The idea that public servants may be engaged in violating laws, is no excuse for blowing the whistle on such abuses, if it involves "National Security". This protects the state attitude at all costs, and is the very definition of institutional cover up. According to Aeschylus, in war, truth is the first casualty. So, throwing the book at Bradley Manning comes as no surprise. Why should anyone be concerned about the international dissemination of raw evidence about war crimes, committed in the name of the War on Terror? Most would fail to be moved by the motivations of a stoic prisoner, who uploaded secured computer files to Wiki Leaks. Many would cheer his interminable incarceration for disclosing military records. Yet, before you slam the jail shut, reflect upon the Secretly Recorded Audio Leaked of Bradley Manning's Court Statement. Listen to the Full Statement. Also, view the You Tube video, where Bradley Manning tells the Court that the Public has the right to know about US War Crimes. A cogent reaction from another whistle blower, Daniel Ellsberg of the Pentagon Papers fame, carries the weight of a brave man from another era. It's important to remember through all this, that Manning has already pled guilty to ten charges of violating military regulations, and faces twenty years in jail. Yet the prosecutors are still going ahead with the absurd charge of aiding the enemy, a capital offense, of which the prosecutors are asking for life in prison. Nixon could have brought that charge against me too. I was revealing wrongdoing by our government in a public way, and that information could have been read by our enemies in Vietnam. Of course, I never had that intent, and Manning didn't either. We both leaked information to provoke a domestic debate about military force and government secrecy, and to say that we did so to aid the enemy is absurd!