The Chris Moeller Archives

Manning to be freed

Chelsea Manning will be a free woman, and that is a wonderful thing. On his way out the door, President Obama does the decent thing, chilling his war on whistle blowers and his persecution of this heroic former member of the U.S. military, by commuting the remainder of her 35 year prison sentence. Her crime was exposing, through WikiLeaks, a dramatically-higher civilian death count in Iraq and Afghanistan than had been officially reported, abuses of detainees by U.S.-backed Iraqi military officials, spying by American diplomats at the United Nations, and passing to Julian Assange the so-called “Collateral Murder” video of a U.S. Apache helicopter killing journalists in Iraq. She has spent more than seven years in military custody already, including 11 months in solitary confinement. She’s been repeatedly denied medical care for her gender dysphoria, and has survived two suicide attempts. The United Nations has described her treatment under the military justice system as “cruel, inhuman and degrading.”

Under Obama’s watch, nine other cases of leaking government secrets have also been prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act. That’s more prosecutions than that of all previous presidencies combined. The final numbers are not in, but Obama will have to hustle through Thursday to come even remotely close to the number of pardons issued by his predecessor, Republican George W. Bush. For what it's worth, only 9% of Obama’s pardons have been for African-Americans, though they make up 38 percent of the federal prison population.

It holds logic to still be frightened on Manning's behalf. Her release, which will not come until May, will eventually permit her, theoretically, to take on a higher public profile, but there are certainly figures within the nation’s military industry that stand to lose a great deal with renewed interest in old actions. None of the perpetrators of the crimes she exposed have ever been brought to justice. It is imperative that she also now be granted an honorable discharge from the Army in return for her service in defense of the Constitution. Many in Washington and within the Intelligence community are criticizing this decision by the president because it will inevitably encourage people to act upon their conscience when on the battlefield. You would have a difficult time convincing me that Hillary Clinton's defeat at the hands of Donald Trump in the election was not a factor in this enlightened decision as well, as the Deep State is less likely to punish Obama with Trump, highly-critical of the Intelligence state, waiting in the wings. Yet, as Americans, we should be hopeful that this decision might spur more Chelsea Mannings into action as a truly authoritarian president-- virtually-unrestrained now thanks to the security precedents encoded by Obama’s White House-- takes the oath of office.

Keep your eye on those supposed First Amendment advocates at the New York Times and the Washington Post, in regards to this story. The Times endorsed the idea of more Obama pardons this week but without referencing Manning. Former Times reporter Judith Miller has tweeted, “Obama commutes sentence of Chelsea Manning. How many people died because of manning’ leak?” The answer to her question is ‘none.’ But millions did die when Miller blindly trumpeted the false claims of the Pentagon that Saddam Hussein was housing an arsenal of biological weapons. The Post has already buried the story, as of this morning, but for columnist Jennifer Rubin, who says that Obama’s decision “defies rational explanation.”

Deserving of major thanks are the advocates and supporters that worked tirelessly on Chelsea Manning’s behalf. Many of them have been First Amendment advocates dating back to Daniel Ellsberg and the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. And though there has been, sadly, a sea change since that time among Washington journalists in respect to information discovery that breaks existing law but exposes corruption, a steadfast few recognized and have done honor to the parallels that exist between these two patriots.

Edward Snowden has tweeted a response to the commutation: “In five more months, you will be free. Thank you for what you did for everyone, Chelsea. Stay strong a while longer!... Let it be said here in earnest, with good heart: Thanks, Obama.. To all who campaigned for clemency on Manning’s behalf these last hard years, thank you. You made this happen.”

posted by CM @ 9:54 PM