Court Finds Bradley Manning Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy
July 30th, 2013
In 2010, Army private Bradley Manning leaked classified information exposing crimes by members of the US military and the State Department to the website WikiLeaks. Most of the information that was made public pertained only to incidents of wrongdoing and did not detail operational plans in a way that resulted in some sort of specified successful attack by an enemy force. Some of the leaked diplomatic cables were instrumental in exposing information that led to Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East. Though he was arrested and held before a military tribunal, a significant number of people around the world view him as a hero.
Today, military judge Colonel Denise Lind found Bradley Manning not guilty of the most serious charge facing him — aiding the enemy. Had he been found guilty, he would have faced a life behind bars in a military prison. He faces 20 additional lesser charges, to some of which he plead guilty, but that the sentencing for the alternative charges will be far less severe. Manning’s not guilty verdict serves as a vindication for the millions of activists who believe him to be a whistleblower and not a traitor.
An Aiding the Enemy Conviction Could Have Set a Dangerous Precedent
Unless it were believable that Bradley Manning intended to get operational plans to members of Al Qaeda or other groups engaged in hostilities against US forces in Afghanistan or Iraq, then an aiding the enemy charge would be unwarranted. Bradley Manning’s clear intention was to expose wrongdoing to the media in an attempt to spur on change. As such, it is clear that his goal was to aid the media and the people in finding the truth.
To declare such actions “aiding the enemy” would set the dangerous precedent that the media and the people are the enemy. Statists argued that Manning helped Al Qaeda and other groups produce propaganda through his exposure of wrongdoing by US officials and soldiers, but, in reality, it was the actions of those who committed the real crimes that produced the atrocities necessary to serve as the content of the propaganda. The people in local communities who suffered the atrocities already knew of them, whether there were leaks or not. The leaks only served as a credible source noting the events in a way that allowed US media outlets to cover them.
Bradley Manning Will Face Punishment for Lesser Charges
It’s unfortunate that Bradley Manning was indeed found guilty of some of the charges facing him, but civil disobedience is a risky type of activism that carries the known threat of jail time. The fact that he was acquitted of the primary charge sets an important precedent that will protect future whistleblowers.
However, the truly unjust aspect of all this is the fact that we are not currently watching the trials of those who committed the crimes which Bradley Manning exposed, such as the July 12, 2007 air strike in Iraq in which Reuters reporters were killed for essentially no reason. Manning’s leaks exposed widespread corruption, and, for all we know, it could still be going on to this very day. If only the President would pardon Manning and investigate the exposed corruption, something good could come of all of this. However, that seems unlikely given Obama’s commitment to maintaining the status quo.
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