[Vision2020] Norman Solomon in USA Today: "Manning deserves Nobel Peace Prize"

[Ted Moffett]

Article from USA Today pasted in lower down.

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Institute for Public Accuracy
980 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa at accuracy.org
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
        "Manning Deserves Nobel Peace Prize"
The sentencing phase of the Bradley Manning trial begins today.
NORMAN SOLOMON, solomonprogressive at gmail.com, normansolomon.com
    Solomon wrote "Manning deserves Nobel Peace
Prize<http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/07/30/bradley-manning-institute-for-public-accuracy-editorials-debates/2601569/>,"
just published by *USA Today*. The piece states: "Tuesday's verdict from a
military judge does not diminish the huge moral stature of whistle-blower
Bradley Manning. Next month, I will be proud to deliver a
petition<http://manningnobel.org/> to
the Nobel Committee in Oslo with a simple message from more than 100,000
signers: 'I urge you to award the Peace Prize to Bradley Manning.'

    "Thanks to Manning, vast troves of information have become public
knowledge, making possible more informed debate about war and peace. For
instance, he leaked the now-infamous 'collateral
murder<http://www.collateralmurder.com/>'
video, with a soundtrack of chilling banter as U.S. servicemen in a pair of
gunships fired on civilians in Baghdad."

    Solomon is founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and
author of *War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to
Death*. His is the co-founder of RootsAction.org, which organized the
petition at: ManningNobel.org <http://www.manningnobel.org/>.
--------------------------------------
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/07/30/bradley-manning-institute-for-public-accuracy-editorials-debates/2601569/
Manning deserves Nobel Peace Prize: Opposing view

Norman Solomon 9:33 p.m. EDT July 30, 2013
Whistle-blowers like him hold government accountable

Tuesday's verdict from a military judge does not diminish the huge moral
stature of whistle-blower Bradley Manning. Next month, I will be proud to
deliver a petition<http://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7612>to
the Nobel Committee in Oslo with a simple message from more than
100,000
signers: "I urge you to award the Peace Prize to Bradley Manning."

*OUR VIEW: *A framework to assess other
leakers<http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/07/30/bradley-manning-verdict-sentencing-editorials-debates/2601571/>

Thanks to Manning, vast troves of information have become public knowledge,
making possible more informed debate about war and peace. For instance, he
leaked the now-infamous "collateral
murder<http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2013/07/waiting-for-the-manning-verdict.html>"
video, with a soundtrack of chilling banter as U.S. servicemen in a pair of
gunships fired on civilians in Baghdad.

Other evidence that Manning brought to light includes a U.S. diplomatic
cable<http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/31/122766/cable-massacre-of-iraqi-family.html>about
a covered-up massacre of at least 10 civilians, including young
children, in the Iraqi town of Ishaqi. That revelation stiffened the
resolve of Iraq's government to seek jurisdiction over American troops for
criminal actions. Washington found the demand unacceptable, thus hastening
full U.S. military withdrawal from the country.

Such disclosures from Manning "helped end the Iraq War, and may have helped
prevent further conflicts elsewhere," according to Mairead
Corrigan-Maguire, a Nobel Peace laureate. She has formally nominated
Manning for the honor this
year<http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/30/bradley-manning-nobel-peace-prize-candidate>,
saying "I can think of no one more deserving."
Consent of the governed is meaningful only to the extent that it is *
informed* consent. Bradley Manning let Americans, and many others around
the world, know what their governments were really doing. The disclosures
caused problems for leaders in many nations who much preferred to operate
behind an opaque curtain.

Over time, democracy and peace are closely entwined. Only a knowledgeable
citizenry can come to grips with actual policies that perpetuate war when
shielded from public scrutiny.

It's easy to insist that Bradley Manning must face the consequences of his
actions. But we badly need whistle-blowers like Manning because U.S.
government leaders do not face the consequences of *their* actions,
including perpetual warfare abroad and assaults on civil liberties at home.

No government should have the power to keep waging war while using secrecy
to cloak policies that cannot stand the light of day. Thank goodness for
the courage of Bradley Manning.
*Norman Solomon is author of *War Made Easy*, founding director of the
Institute for Public Accuracy and co-founder of RootsAction.org
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*
*Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
*
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