A private in the U.S. army by the name of Bradley Manning has recently been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Manning has turned over countless U.S. documents pertaining to U.S. operations in Iraq to WikiLeaks, and has even come forward with footage of U.S. troops killing a journalist in Iraq.
Although Manning had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, he is not yet in the clear for his whistleblowing. According to the New Jersey Newsroom,
"The state will push 22 charges against Manning, including: aiding the enemy, wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet, knowing of the accessibility of the information to enemies, stealing property and transmission of defense information."
A website, http://www.bradleymanning.org/, has been set up in Manning's honour, and to gain support for the freedom of this young man. His story has been covered by nearly every major media outlet, such as the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the New York Times.
Does anybody else find it hard to believe that a young man nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize should have to worry about the possibility of being faced with the death penalty for "aiding the enemy"? I, for one, do not view Manning's actions as aiding the enemy in any way, unless America's enemy is WikiLeaks.