An American Whistleblower Takes A Stand For Bradley Manning

Bradley Manning

One of America's best-known whistleblowers of the past decade says Bradley Manning should not be prosecuted for allegedly releasing documents to WikiLeaks that revealed U.S. military misconduct.

Meanwhile, a former Reagan-administration official says he would not be surprised if the CIA assassinates WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Has America's moral compass gone completely haywire, and will the Obama administration even attempt to get it back on track?

Jill Simpson, an Alabama attorney who blew the whistle on a Republican plot to prosecute former Democratic Governor Don Siegelman, says the government's treatment of Manning is a threat to our democracy. Simpson is particularly alarmed by yesterday's news that the U.S. Army has added 22 charges against Manning, including "aiding the enemy."

This news, Simpson says, has profound implications for anyone who might reveal governmental wrongdoing:

The U.S. military has charged Bradley Manning with aiding the enemy, which is a crime you can get the death penalty for--all because he released videos and cables that showed our government had lied to us, the American citizens.

This young man clearly suffers from a war-related mental health condition called moral injury, and he should never be tried. He was asked by our government to do something against his morals, which was to lie to the American people and participate in murder of civilians. Our troops daily are put into situations where they have to choose between morals or murder. Bradley Manning chose to possibly get the death penalty in order to see the truth is told. He is an American hero, make no mistake about it.

Simpson knows what it's like to suffer for speaking out. She's had her life threatened and her property damaged in the wake of her revelations about the Siegelman case:

Manning's family, I am sure, is going through a hellish nightmare right now. Please pray for him and them. And please remember this always: The day Bradley Manning let us know our country was killing innocent civilians he knew that we have a right to know the truth about what our government does in our great nation's name.

This young man, Bradley Manning, saw truth was on the march, regardless of what might possibly happen to him. The very people who are seeing him charged by the U.S. military are the people who are guilty of murdering civilians. If you have not watched the 'collateral murder video,' which Manning placed at the WikiLeaks site, the time to do so is now, so you can see the truth of why they want him prosecuted and murdered by our government.

The U.S. is heading down a dangerous path with its handling of the Bradley Manning case, Simpson says:

The situation we are facing in this country of trying him and Assange for letting the public know about the murder of civilians is something all of us should be aware of. It will infringe upon our right to know the truth as citizens of the United States of America. After all, when a country loses its moral anchor, we are set adrift.

Right now it appears we as a nation are going to kill the messenger, as opposed to finding a solution to stop these senseless wars and wrongful murder of civilians. People must speak up and help get truth on the march in this country, as the time is now before we slip into a moral hell hole we can never recover from.

Killing Assange and Bradley Manning will not make us safe as a nation. Imprisoning true war criminals, who kill civilians, might move us forward. But killing these two will only lead to a  society of tyranny.

Simpson is not alone in her fear for the safety of Julian Assange and Bradley Manning. Paul Craig Roberts, who served in the Reagan administration, says he expects the CIA to assassinate Assange:

“In my opinion, if the legal attempt, which I’m sure the United States government is behind—if this fails, he’ll simply be assassinated by a CIA assassination team,” said Roberts, who described Assange as a “very much a threat” to the U.S. and other governments.

“It’s common practice for the CIA to do that. There's nothing unusual about it. The Congress had many hearings in the mid-70s and it’s in the public record that they’re always assassinating people.”

“Always” may be a bit of a stretch, but, yes, the U.S. government does employ assassination to get their way. In fact, Dennis Blair, President Obama’s former Director of National Intelligence, insisted in 2010 that the government has the “right” to kill people it considers the enemy.

You can check out Russia Today's full interview with Paul Craig Roberts here: