Where's the Crime?

If you watch this video, you see the US military kill innocent civilians...



You've seen a crime, right?

Nope... according to the US military, the crime is that Army Specialist Bradley Manning of the 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division. He released "classified information". He made it possible to understand that US troops sometimes make brutal, ugly mistakes.

You read it right. The US avoids the nastiness of admitting to a horrible massacre of civilians by declaring the video "classified information". To think that Americans back in the US have a right to know what their military is doing in Iraq is clearly wrong. At least that is the US military view that refused to release the video. Worse, the US military thinks it is a crime to show people what the US military has done.

Gee... George Orwell talked in his novel 1984 about the eternally warring powers throwing compromising material down the memory hole. That's exactly what the US does today. It makes sure its citizenry never hears facts that go contrary to the "approved message".

As Winston Smith learned through a little "therapy", in the world of 1984, 2+2=5. In the Brave New World of 2010, telling the American people the truth about their troops is a crime of releasing "classified material".

And what of poor Bradley Manning? He has been held for three weeks. He is being held for letting the US public know the brutal fact that the US military killed two Reuters news journalists and a number of other civilians on an Iraqi street because US troops were trigger happy. In the US government, it is a crime to admit that you make mistakes.

But we all know that the US military never commits a criminal act. Right? Here's a guy who wouldn't agree...



I'm expecting this guy and his organization to be raided and "disappeared". That is the US government's way of making sure that no "unregulated" facts/ideas/thoughts find the light of day.