News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: Shana A on March 13, 2012, 05:21:50 PM Return to Full Version
Title: Op-ed: The Most Dangerous Man in America?
Post by: Shana A on March 13, 2012, 05:21:50 PM
Post by: Shana A on March 13, 2012, 05:21:50 PM
From The Advocate March 2012
Op-ed: The Most Dangerous Man in America?
The Obama administration wants you to forget that Bradley Manning is likely the first openly gay political prisoner.
By Victoria A. Brownworth
http://www.advocate.com/Print_Issue/Features/The_Most_Dangerous_Man_in_America/ (http://www.advocate.com/Print_Issue/Features/The_Most_Dangerous_Man_in_America/)
Nearly two years ago, Army specialist Bradley Manning was arrested and charged with a series of crimes against the U.S. government, including leaking thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks and aiding the enemy. The questions raised by the indefinite detention of a the gay soldier — who has been imprisoned in torturous conditions that violate the Geneva Convention — go to the heart of President Obama's expansion of Bush-era civil liberties violations, like the indefinite detentions of alleged enemy combatants at Guantanamo. Except Manning is not an enemy combatant but an American citizen. And since Manning himself says his actions were spurred by his outrage over the conditions in which he was forced to serve under "don't ask, don't tell," we must ask what impact Manning's sexual and gender orientation have had on his treatment.
[...]
His mental and psychological states have declined rapidly due to his treatment, and in all the celebration over the repeal of DADT, the case of Bradley Manning has faded into invisibility. Sadly, Manning, who was living as a gay man but had expressed a feeling that his gender identity might be female, may be out personally, but his case is the most closeted in recent U.S. military history.
Manning is the forgotten soldier, emblematic of the struggles queer service members face.
Op-ed: The Most Dangerous Man in America?
The Obama administration wants you to forget that Bradley Manning is likely the first openly gay political prisoner.
By Victoria A. Brownworth
http://www.advocate.com/Print_Issue/Features/The_Most_Dangerous_Man_in_America/ (http://www.advocate.com/Print_Issue/Features/The_Most_Dangerous_Man_in_America/)
Nearly two years ago, Army specialist Bradley Manning was arrested and charged with a series of crimes against the U.S. government, including leaking thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks and aiding the enemy. The questions raised by the indefinite detention of a the gay soldier — who has been imprisoned in torturous conditions that violate the Geneva Convention — go to the heart of President Obama's expansion of Bush-era civil liberties violations, like the indefinite detentions of alleged enemy combatants at Guantanamo. Except Manning is not an enemy combatant but an American citizen. And since Manning himself says his actions were spurred by his outrage over the conditions in which he was forced to serve under "don't ask, don't tell," we must ask what impact Manning's sexual and gender orientation have had on his treatment.
[...]
His mental and psychological states have declined rapidly due to his treatment, and in all the celebration over the repeal of DADT, the case of Bradley Manning has faded into invisibility. Sadly, Manning, who was living as a gay man but had expressed a feeling that his gender identity might be female, may be out personally, but his case is the most closeted in recent U.S. military history.
Manning is the forgotten soldier, emblematic of the struggles queer service members face.
Title: Re: Op-ed: The Most Dangerous Man in America?
Post by: Jamie D on March 13, 2012, 06:49:32 PM
Post by: Jamie D on March 13, 2012, 06:49:32 PM
One must remember that the system of military justice is apart from the system of civil justice. Although both systems are answerable to laws governing fundamental human rights, military justice does not answer to civil standards and precedents.