Bradley Edward Manning:
Bradley Edward Manning has been convicted by a military court on 20 charges and faces up to 136 years in prison. Many Muslims are not aware of Bradley Manning case and what it entails.
Bradley Manning leaked more than 70,000 classified US Government documents & videos to wikileaks founder Julian Assange with the most famous being July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike where the US military gunned down in cold blood two Reuters journalists Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. The scene didn’t end there, US military then decided to shoot at people trying to save the two Reuters Journalists.
You can watch the chilling video here.
Bradley Manning himself admitted and pleaded guilty to the leaks but he leaked the information to bring accountability to the runaway train called the US Government. The military court was not able to connect a single death to the actions of Bradley Manning.
In order to destroy his credibility, Government tried to portray Bradley Manning as a loner, outcast and then resorted to torture, sleep deprivation and extreme solitary confinement. The UN special rapporteur on torture has formally accused the US government of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment towards Bradley Manning.
Nevertheless Bradley Manning’s 10,000 word account of his actions which he read to Judge Denise Lind, at Fort Meade courtroom on February 28th 2013 is coherent and highly structured. This is one of the only meaningful accounts of Bradley Manning in his own words.
Yet they threw the book at Bradley Manning to discourage anyone else even thinking of standing up to the US Government.
Edward Joseph Snowden:
Edward Joseph Snowden leaked the extent of NSA surveillance to Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald. The extents of NSA surveillance not only in US but snooping on their “allies” in Europe has caused a huge uproar amongst the population. Again, the US Government is not able to connect a single death to the actions of Edward Snowden.
Today, Snowden is holed up in Russia with his passport and travel documents revoked by US Government and being portrayed as an enemy of the state, a loner and an outcast.
Once again we see in his interviews (Part 1 & Part 2) a principled young man driven by his conscious to accountability to the runaway train called the US Government.
The opponents of both Manning & Snowden state that they should have raised their concerns with their respective superiors and followed protocol and the Chain of Command!
Thomas Andrews Drake:
Thomas Drake did exactly that!
Thomas is a decorated US Air Force & Navy veteran who while working for the NSA encountered the trailblazer project and raised concerns with his superiors.
US Government decided to prosecute Thomas on bogus charges which he couldn’t defend due to losing his job and financial means. In the end he pleaded guilty to “misuse of office computers” for Government to drop all (fictitious) charges.
Thomas drake never leaked anything to the media and was never convicted, all he did was question a NSA program.
Today with no money, no job, no pension and no future the decorated soldier and skilled technician works in an Apple store selling iPhones!