HONOR BRADLEY MANNING

Brave people are often abused.

Honor is something that recent (and present) American governments have not been known for. Indeed, our governments since John Kennedy's "Bay of Pigs" invasion have regularly been criminal in their disregard of our Constitution and United States law. Our current and on-going violations of international law make us a rogue state.

WikiLeaks is providing a valuable service to the world--and to us, as Americans. We should be glad to have the crimes and dishonesties of our government published. Only by knowing them can we correct them.

Are there any Americans who are proud of what the WikiLeaks documents expose? Shouldn't we all thank WikiLeaks, and then demand that those responsible for illegal. immoral, and unethical policies and actions be charged and prosecuted.

If we don't do that, we are as guilty as our governmental thugs are.

If our government thinks that Private Bradley Manning is ultimately responsible for these damning documents being released, then congress should award him the Congressional Medal of Honor, and we should all celebrate his heroism. Right now, however, our government has Bradley Manning in prison, in solitary confinement, at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. He has been so held for nearly seven months.

Bradley Manning has not yet been charged with a crime. He has committed no crime. In fact, under both United States civil law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice had he not made public the evidence of the serious felony crimes which he discovered, he would be guilty of misprision of multiple felonies, of being an accessory after the fact to the commission of those felonies.

Bradley Manning has committed no crime. And our government can't charge him with having committed a crime, because his defense will be that he was doing what our law requires him to do. So, since George W. Bush suspended our Constitutional right of Habeas Corpus by executive order, and Barack Obama has not undone that illegal order, Bradley Manning might just spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement at Quantico. He is now twenty-two years old.

But maybe, someday, he will be released. Maybe someday we will have an honest, honorable, law-abiding president again. But someday is a long, long time for a young man to wait for justice. Must we make him wait? Must we cooperate in violating his rights? Must we support governmental oppression? Must we be toads and toadies? Cowards?