The Currency of Classified Information and the Selective Prosecution of Bradley Manning

[unhappycamper]

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/12839-the-currency-of-classified-information-and-the-selective-prosecution-of-bradley-manning



Bradley Manning in April 2012.


The Currency of Classified Information and the Selective Prosecution of Bradley Manning
Tuesday, 20 November 2012 10:35
By Danny Weil, Truthout | Op-Ed

~snip~

Pivot now to the case of Bradley Manning. The Army private is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

One could argue the Navy SEALs' breach of classified, secret information and the Uniform Code of Military Justice is far more serious than the crimes that Bradley Manning is accused of. The seven SEALs basically lifted classified information, and then peddled the information like a commodity to a software corporation for their own personal profit. This use of classified information should be distinguished from the Manning case, where there was no profit motive whatsoever. Nor was one alleged.

So while the SEALs receive a reprimand and a fine, Manning languishes in a federal prison under what some have called unduly harsh - even torturous - conditions - including extended periods of solitary confinement for more than 900 days.

It would seem that Manning is being subjected to selective prosecution and arbitrary and capricious confinement by the government.