I almost forgot to blog today! Which would have been bad, because there is something specific I had been planning to talk about, and it can only really be effective today, so... it's only going to be a short one, but still an important one.
Today is 23 February, which marks the 1000th day of the imprisonment of Bradley Manning. Now, I'm not going to bother typing up exactly who Bradley Manning is - if you follow this blog you should know because I've mentioned him quite a few times, but for anyone who doesn't, here is a video that I made with a co-worker:
It is interesting how much debate this issue has caused as a matter of fact... below is a transcript of a Facebook conversation I had with a friend about this, who I often tend to agree with on political debates but on this occasion I was actually quite shocked by their viewpoint. (I won't name the friend, but they did agree to me making our conversation public. In fact, they said I could name them if I wanted to - which I sometimes do, as we all know - but on this occasion I'd prefer not to.)
The conversation went like this:
Me: Hey, did I ever show you my Bradley Manning video?
My friend: I saw it. Someone you know posted it, and you commented. It came up on my feed.
Me: Did you like it?
My friend: I'm not sure I agree.
Me: Go on?
My friend: I think he had it coming.
Me: Do you honestly think that the way he is treated is fair?
My friend: Yes. I don't condone what the government did, don't get me wrong, but I don't agree with him either.
Me: If it's fair, why has every single psychologist who has assessed his case strongly advised the powers that be not to treat him in the way that he is being treated at the moment? His trial been kept so private, postponed as much as it can be, and whenever anything does happen, the information released is so complex it is hard to understand. Why would that be? If it was fair, it wouldn't matter the world knowing. Tomorrow marks the thousandth day of his imprisonment, when his trial is not even concluded yet. Surely if there was enough evidence to convict him of something properly, he would have been treated fairly. My belief is that the information that he released should have been public knowledge in the first place, and if the authorities are too corrupt to release it, it falls to an ordinary person to do so. The ins and outs of his crime essentially were embarrassing his superiors, and sometimes that needs to happen, otherwise it just results in more innocent deaths.
My friend: But George, life isn't fair. He did something wrong, and he has to have a punishment. I *do* believe though that the US Government should be tried before the International Courts of Justice breaching the Geneva convention.
Me: Just because something is illegal, doesn't necessarily make it wrong.
My friend: I know. I did a presentation on it. It's like the Euthyphro dilemma. Is it illegal because it is wrong or is it wrong because it is illegal?
Me: And which is it in this case?
My friend: Here, we disagree.
Me: We're going to disagree whichever option you pick, because I don't think what he did was wrong in either way. I'm just curious, with regards to the case of Bradley Manning, you think what he did was illegal because it was wrong, or wrong because it was illegal.
My friend:It's definitely malum prohibitum. The latter. The former is malum in se.
Me: Well, I think if something is not wrong in any way apart from being illegal, then it isn't wrong and does not deserve a punishment. And for the record, what Bradley Manning did would not have been illegal if the people he reported for doing wrong had not been the people who made the laws in the first place.
My friend: I know. It's a double standard, and as I said, the US Government should be tried as war criminals. Without them commanding so, this would never have happened. If he gets punished, they deserve to be. If he wasn't, I would see it as fair that nothing would happen to them. Karmic justice.
Me: I don't think that in this case, that makes any sense. They have been directly responsible for the creation of war, death and suffering for no reason at all, apart from reasons that they have erroneously created themselves. Bradley drew attention to their treachery, and made the world see how unfair they are. They deserved to be punished for war crimes even before he got involved, how they are treating him as a result is something else entirely.
My friend: I'm thinking of how the USA has an undue influence on the world. If they let him go, then they would have been seen as good guys and would thus be likely to get off scot free, and then money would be wasted. If they are being like they are, there is a countermovement which is quite strong and there is a greater chance that they will be found guilty.
Me: No, because letting him go now, while it would be fantastic for him, would still not undo a) the way that he has been treated so far and b) what they did that prompted Bradley to blow the whistle in the first place. Your comment about the fact that they are more likely to be found guilty if they treat him like they are makes sense, but the end does not justify the means, and it is totally unfair for Bradley to be used as a pawn in a political game.
At this point, our debate rather drew to a close as we weren't going to agree, and we had each said pretty much everything that we could for our respective sides. I find it odd how with a debate like this, someone can have such a different point of view to mine. I can see how in some debates, it might not be so clear-cut and someone's viewpoint may be fundamentally different to mine, but to me, in this case it is a no-brainer. He should be released; that is the only just thing to do. He saw someone doing something wrong to people, and he thought, no, that's not right - and so he did something about it, in much the same way that many of the people that we hail as heroes did. My friend clearly sees things from a more political stance, and I admit that that might be the more realistic attitude - but when I have opinions about how the world should be run and how certain people should be treated, I refuse to be swayed by politics. I am a passionate idealist, and I view the world from a point of view that says, actually let's try to do something about this and make a positive difference. If as a political activist, I had only ever worked on things that I thought had a realistic chance of success, I'd have done precious little - but making an effort, even erroneously, makes me feel better about things, because we never know what we can make a difference to if we try.
So in summary, please join the Save Bradley Manning campaign. Like the Save Bradley Manning Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/savebradley?fref=ts
Log onto the website, upload your 'I Am Bradley Manning' photo and read about what else you can do to help:
http://www.bradleymanning.org/
Remember, while we are talking, a young brave man stands in a high-security prison, not knowing if he will ever experience freedom again. Please help him. I do what I can, I hope you will do the same. I apologise that the majority of this blog post has consisted of a video I made and a transcript of a conversation I had - I wasn't in a very good frame of mind to write this, but sometimes duty calls.
Take care, readers, and check back soon for another update!
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