Ⓐnarcho Queer

Obama’s Harsh Treatment For Manning Is Due To A Conflict of Interest

In 2010, WikiLeaks released private government documents which revealed that Obama supported the coup in Honduras in 2009, the first successful Latin American coup in a decade and half. Since then, Honduras become the murder capital of the world. The coup dramatically increased drug trafficking, violence and state repression. At least 34 members of the opposition have disappeared or been killed, and more than 300 people have been killed by state security forces since the coup, according to the leading human rights organization Cofadeh. At least 13 journalists have been killed since Mr. Lobo took office, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. 89 LGBT persons were also murdered over three and a half years in the country which has a population less than 8 million.

Pfc. Manning, the whistleblower responsible for the largest leak of state secrets in U.S. history which included the documents that tied the president to the military coup in Honduras, is currently in prison and being prosecuted by the Obama Administration despite the obvious conflict of interest.

Obama has made it clear that he wants to make Manning’s life a living hell. After the press published stories about Manning’s harsh treatment in prison, which included: being stripped naked every night before bed, confined to a cell for all but an hour a day, allowed only 20 minutes of “sunshine call”, was given no more than five minutes in the shower, denied access to sufficient exercise and given a pair of running shoes to walk without laces that fell off due to the leg shackles, Obama replied by saying Manning is being held in conditions that are “appropriate and meeting our basic standards.”

In case the information above wasn’t enough to convince you that the current administration has a personal vendetta against the whistleblower, consider this. Manning was in prison without trial for 1,005 days before pleading guilty to 10 (of the 22) charges against him in a bid to secure a reduced sentence. Those 10 charges alone could carry a sentence of up to 20 years. But instead of accepting that plea, military prosecutors announced Friday they will seek to imprison Manning for life without parole on charges that include aiding the enemy. And after more than three years of imprisonment, including nine months of torture, Nobel Peace Prize nominee B. Manning’s trial is finally scheduled to begin June 3, 2013, at Fort Meade, Maryland. That is 1,105 days, or 3 years and 9 days, since he was arrested. So much for a speedy trial.

It should also be noted that Obama’s Justice Department has prosecuted more whistle-blowers than the combined total of every President who preceded him. So when it comes to Manning, who personally caused the PODUS deep embarrassment, I’m not to optimistic that Manning will win this case.

Source: anarcho-queer