This week in 2013, the US government began its trial against the whistleblower Chelsea Manning after subjected her to 11 months of torture. Manning was charged with ‘aiding the enemy’ for leaking evidence of US atrocities, including major war crimes in Iraq & Afghanistan. 
Following Manning’s leak of material to Wikileaks, the US arrested her & subjected her to what the UN described as 'cruel & inhumane' treatment, including being stripped naked & held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day under heavy surveillance. theguardian.com/world/2012/mar…
Manning said she leaked the material out of a deep sense of moral duty after realizing the US government was engaging in atrocities and lying about it. Journalist Glenn Greenwald describes Manning’s motivations from her statements in court in 2013:
Among the documents leaked by Manning were:
*files on torture of detainees held at Guantánamo Bay
*251,287 US diplomatic cables exposing corrupt dictatorships of Middle East, backed by the US
*400,000 Iraq War logs & 90,000 Afghan war logs documenting US war crimes
*files on torture of detainees held at Guantánamo Bay
*251,287 US diplomatic cables exposing corrupt dictatorships of Middle East, backed by the US
*400,000 Iraq War logs & 90,000 Afghan war logs documenting US war crimes
Also leaked were:
*a video of a 2007 Baghdad airstrike ("Collateral Murder" video), documenting US targeting of journalists & civilians, including children
*A 2nd video (never published), of the May 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan, which killed 97 civilians, mostly children
*a video of a 2007 Baghdad airstrike ("Collateral Murder" video), documenting US targeting of journalists & civilians, including children
*A 2nd video (never published), of the May 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan, which killed 97 civilians, mostly children
Manning’s leaks helped end the formal US occupation of Iraq by exposing US atrocities, making it politically impossible for the Iraqi gov to accept US demands that US troops have criminal immunity in Iraq, spurring Obama to pull US troops out.
After conviction, Manning’s imprisonment in a US military prison was so cruel--especially as a trans woman held in a men’s prison--that she attempted suicide multiple times & then was even punished for the suicide attempts. nytimes.com/2017/01/13/us/…
A grassroots campaign to free her from prison was ultimately successful, and she walked free in May of 2017. We should all honor her heroism & willingness to give up her life to expose US atrocities and the lies it told to cover them up.
