by If you haven’t visited the Wikileaks Collateral Murder website yet, you should — as long as you are over 18 and you have a strong stomach for witnessing death — because you will see real time killing in a war that is already lost.
Here’s the short version of the video. I again warn you not to click the link to watch unless you are over the age of 18.
Is it a good thing we can see that sort of human destruction? Secretary of War (Defense) Robert Gates said the video is like “looking at the war through a straw” — but isn’t that true of any third-hand report from the battlefield? Isn’t Gates’ job defined by “straw-looking?” He certainly isn’t boots on the ground in any way.
Army Spc. Bradley Manning of Potomac, Md. is being held somewhere in Kuwait as the one responsible for providing the encrypted video to Wikileaks for decoding and publication.
Are we made better or worse as a nation with this video among us?
Do we deserve transparency in our media and military or not?
Is Bradley Manning a national hero or a traitor to the cause?
These are closer looks at what is happening than if we were just told with words what is happening. Words can be easily changed. Video can be altered as well but I would hardly say Manning should be held as a traitor. It’s not like he disseminated information that would help the enemy.
I agree, Gordon. Why can’t we see these videos? Why can’t we seek the caskets of our dead soldiers returning home? What is our government protecting us from — or is the better question, “What are they hiding from us?”
My sense of it is that Manning will be severely punished and put away for the rest of his life as an example of what happens to a “snitch” in the military. One man’s snitch is another man’s freedom fighter.