Though whistleblowers technically commit crimes against the United States in order to reveal information, they are actually more dedicated to democracy and freedom than many of the people that work in government.
Say what you will about Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, but the information they leaked is vital to the American people and needed to be shared.
The New York Times has cited the information Manning leaked about the Iraq War at least five times in the month of May. And it’s been well more than six years since the information was released through Wikileaks.
The information Snowden released about the NSA has made many American citizens not only aware of the surveillance within the U.S. but made many start learning how to protect themselves from surveillance.
Some politicians claimed the information that Snowden and Manning released would severely harm the U.S. and national security. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see any of those consequences lying around. In fact, the U.S. government has admitted no lives were lost due to Manning’s leak, the opposite of what they were claiming at the time of her trial.
If anything, the information Snowden and Manning released has made the American public more informed about their government, which is a good thing.
While Snowden has been charged with three felonies, including two under the Espionage Act of 1917, Manning has been charged more severely and has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. That’s the harshest sentence any whistleblower has gotten in the history of the U.S.
Manning has already served six years in military custody, which makes her stay in prison also the longest for whistleblowers in history and she still has decades more to serve.
The point is Snowden and Manning provided the American people with a much-needed public service.
The violations they were charged with under the Espionage Act of 1917 are outdated at best. The government should look at the real damage caused by the release of the information rather than just complaining about how the information made them look bad.
President Obama is nearing the end of his term as POTUS and should seriously consider exonerating both Manning and Snowden for many reasons. First, Manning has served enough time for her “crimes” in military custody, and Snowden is probably not having the best time being relegated to living in Russia.
Second, Manning, a transgender woman, is being forced to live as a male under military custody, which, if it isn’t already, should be unlawful and is indisputably oppressive.
Even former attorney general Eric Holder said Snowden did “a public service” by releasing information about NSA surveillance of the American public.
The White House claims there is a path for whistleblowers to take when they have concerns about the information they have access to, which I can guarantee leaves out telling the American public anything about that information.
Obama might be holding off on exonerating Snowden because he basically called Obama out on failing to make good on his promise to curtail NSA surveillance by releasing the documents demonstrating how NSA surveillance has grown under the Obama administration.
I say, get over it, Obama.
Bite the bullet and make things right. Manning and Snowden deserve to live freely and with honor rather than be punished.
rcm2@umail.iu.edu
@RachelCMiller1
