Glenn Greenwald: The intellectual cowardice of Bradley Manning’s critics

[Better Believe It]

17. So what if he leaked documents stamped "classified" by some government bureaucrat?

Manning did us all a public service.

Government and military officials routinely classify millions of documents every single year that have nothing to do with defending this nation or protecting us from terrorists or others that want to harm us.

We know from civil lawsuits and the Watergate revelations of the 1970's that most of these documents are rubber stamped "confidential" or "secret" in order to conceal illegal or undemocratic actions by the government and the classification has nothing to do with the security of the people, or as they prefer calling it "national security".

I haven't been harmed in the least by the Wikileaks revelations or Mannings activities. What about you "SlimJimmy"?

And why is it that many of those who claim that Manning has endangered American troops have been among the biggest supporters of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that have actually caused the death of thousands of U.S. soldiers?

Are they blind to that fact?

Thousands of U.S. soldiers and hundreds of thousands of civilians have lost their lives or been maimed in these wars that Manning and Wikileaks opposed while the Manning/Assange haters have been silent on the GI's who have lost their lives in vane. Total silence! And they claim Manning's activities might endanger those soldiers! Bull shit!

So these apologists for the warmakers loudly proclaim Manning should serve the rest of his life behind bars because of their great concern for the well being of U.S. troops while at the same time they salute the perpetrators of the U.S. invasions who are in fact responsible for the very real death of U.S. soldiers!

Of course they are concerned about GI's. Sure they are. Just like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were so very concerned.