UWIRE — Pfc. Bradley Manning made headlines in 2010 when he was arrested for the leak of around 250,000 private documents concerning operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to the website WikiLeaks, known for its mission of transparency in government.
Manning was arrested on May 26, 2010 and has been under U.S. military detainment ever since.
Recently, Manning’s defense attorney, David Coombs, filed a motion stating that Manning’s charges should be dismissed because his right to a speedy trial has been completely violated.
“As of the date of this motion, Pfc. Manning has been in pretrial confinement for 845 days,” Coombs said. “With trial scheduled to commence on Feb. 4, 2013, Pfc. Manning will have spent a grand total of 983 days in pretrial confinement before even a single piece of evidence is offered against him.”
Whether he is labeled a whistleblower or a cyber-terrorist, the handling of such a nonviolent criminal case by the military’s judicial system is absolutely horrendous. The underlying motive for journalists and the press is to inform an otherwise uninformed democratic society so people within can choose their political candidates accordingly.
Never in the history of the U.S. has any administration utilized the Espionage Act so frequently as President Barack Obama’s administration, and the exponential expansion of information into the hands of people through technology undoubtedly plays a role in the increase of these cases.
It’s ironic that Manning’s imposition of restraint could be more than 630 days before the trial for exposing the espionage acts of our government and then get charged as a spy.
We are entering a new age where government officials cannot protect their classified information from the people, and we are
starting to see an increased vigilance among the Internet community as a form of civil disobedience.
Users’ understanding of the Internet is increasing at a remarkable rate. The advances have been rapid, and it’s getting harder for anybody, including our government, to hide anything.
Manning’s case proves that Internet-related activities are going to fall under ever-increasing scrutiny until it is no longer a forum for the people.
Granted, Manning most likely had animosity toward the military and his peers because of the treatment toward his alleged “gender confusion,” as the military calls it. Wherever his motives to leak the information came from, Manning kept the military’s over-reaching arm in check.
The crimes blatantly committed on the videos are far worse than anything Manning has done, but none of these personnel were convicted or tried for any of these crimes.
This case will undoubtedly set a precedent to decide how much the government can get away with in regards to military operations and prisoner detainment.
While the media tried to generate ad revenue off other stories like the Trayvon Martin case, the Manning case fell to the wayside. It’s easy to get the public riled up over issues like race, but getting the public riled up against the military-industrial complex is against the corporate conglomerates’ and governmental institution’s interests.