Eric London

Army PFC Bradley Manning addressed the military tribunal at Ft. Meade, Maryland yesterday in the eleventh day of post-trial sentencing hearings. The 25-year-old whistle-blower was found guilty last month on 19 counts, including six charges of espionage. He faces up to 90 years in prison.

Manning’s comments yesterday reflect the tremendous element of coercion in the entire proceedings. In all, the episode more closely resembled a Stalinist show trial than a democratic court of law.

“First, your honor, I want to start off with an apology,” he told Army Col. Denise Lind, the military judge overseeing the proceedings. “I’m sorry that my actions hurt people, and I’m sorry that it hurt the United States. I understand what I was doing and the decision that I made. I’m sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions.”

Noting that he would “have to pay a price for my decisions and actions,” Manning pled for a lower sentence.

“How on Earth could I, a junior analyst, possibly believe I could change the world for the better over those with the proper authority? I know that I can and will be a better person. I hope that you can give me the opportunity to prove, not through words but through conduct, that I can return to a productive place in society.”

Manning delivered these comments in a visible state of despondency—he shook and grew tearful as he spoke. That a defendant in a legal proceeding is forced to apologize for and denounce his acts of opposition underscores the advanced state of decay of American democracy. Such sordid events bear the badge of a police state.

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Stephen Lendman

The man who misled Congress on spying will pick Obama’s
intelligence review panel (8/12/13). Clapper said he’ll be
assembling the panel (8/12/13). DNI Clapper won’t control
spying review, White House says (8/13/13)...

You can't make this stuff up. It sounds like a bad film plot. The fix is in. Obama's reform assures business as usual. His promises aren't worth the paper they're written on. He says one thing. He does another. It happens every time. He broke every major promise made. He's a serial liar. He governs lawlessly. He claims Washington doesn't have a domestic spying. NSA monitors everyone everywhere all the time. Obama lied claiming otherwise.

A previous article said London's Guardian headlined "NSA loophole allows warrantless search for US citizens' emails and phone calls." Snowden revealed a secret NSA backdoor. It's a previously undisclosed rule. It lets NSA operatives "hunt for individual Americans' communications using their name or other identifying information."

Under the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) Section 702, warrantless intelligence data is collected. It's official policy. It includes foreign and domestic communications. Deceptive language calls it "incidental collection." There's nothing "incidental" about it. It's systematic meta-data mining. It's done extrajudicially. It's without oversight. Until now, it's been secret. It's far more intrusive than previously believed. It permits warrantless searches.

In 2011, Obama approved it. He did it secretly. On request, FISA court judges rubber-stamp approval. Whatever NSA wants it gets. Obama assurances about privacy, transparency and reform ring hollow. It bears repeating. Business as usual continues. Big Brother watches everyone.

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