Bradley Manning, or the Invisible Man

In a world boasting a population of over six billion people, Bradley Manning looks destined to become the world’s forgotten man.

Whilst Julian Assange will continue to be the face of the Wikileaks war on the United States, with his infamous picture in custody having been plastered all over televisions and newspapers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Bradley Manning had ever played a role in the biggest security cables leak in history.

Whilst Assange walks free for now, Manning is reportedly slowly decaying in a secret cell, his mental health being eroded away, akin to a wave crashing repeatedly against a rock; he is in essence a forgotten man.

Manning, a United States Army intelligence analyst, a mere computer geek to those who knew him, has been living in solitary isolation since September.

To put this into perspective, for those who enrolled at Warwick this year, he has been ‘living’ in isolation, before any of us had taken our first steps on campus. Sleeping in nothing more than his boxer pants and some carpet sheets for the past five months, the man who blew the whistle on the United States military ‘secrets’ appears destined to live his life behind bars.

Permitted to see no one but his lawyer, and having to remain in his cell for virtual eternity (he is given the luxury to escape this prison, for one hour each day), readers of Orwell’s _1984_ wouldn’t be too wrong if they mistook Manning for the fictional Winston Smith.

When comparing the pair, there are without doubt some similarities. Both worked for the state; both had grievances about the practices of the state, but most critically, both swiftly and brutally punished by the state. So for some it would be no unfair criticism to compare where Manning currently spends his days to the aptly named Ministry of Love, where of course Winston found his own personal hell.

But what exactly is Manning’s own personal hell? Whilst it is extremely unlikely Manning has found himself with a cage of rats strapped around his face, his predicament can’t be considered much better.

Those with knowledge of his condition have said that in his cell, exercise is prohibited. He is forced to relinquish his clothes before sleeping each night. Woken at no later than 5am each morning, he is refused any exercise, outside of the precious 60 minutes he is released from his cell. If this wasn’t bad enough, he is robbed of all privacy, as guards are required to receive verbal confirmation that Manning is ‘okay’ every five minutes during the day, a measure in place since the 23-year-old was placed on suicide watch, not because he is an unstable individual, no, this is in place to further irritate the detainee, as if his life was a beach before this.

It must not be forgotten that Manning is being held on nothing more than allegations. He has not had any trial. He has furthermore had no official date set for his trial. It is amazing that having not been tried, he finds himself being subject to sly torturous methods, which even convicted criminals – murderers even – do not suffer. With talk of Guantanamo Bay for Julian Assange now being alleged in the media circus that has erupted since the leak, maybe Guantanamo is the best hope for Manning.

Should the Oklahoman ever reach trial it would take the world’s biggest optimist to have a glimmer of hope in him walking away a free man.

To put into perspective the mountain before him, Manning would have more chance of winning the lottery every week for the rest of his life than walk free. So what punishment will befall Manning when he is found guilty, which he will inevitably be? Opinion remains divided although the most likely outcome would be over a half a century behind bars. Think this is harsh? US Congressman Mike Rogers doesn’t. We know this because he recently aired his opinions on a Michigan radio station, calling for Manning to be executed. Rogers, a representative for Michigan, then went on further to suggest that should the charge of treason not carry, then Manning should further be charged with murder.

Disgusted yet? It’s quite clearly obvious that should he be found guilty Manning has taken advantage of his position as a security analyst (pretending to listen to Lady Gaga whilst downloading critical information), but to accuse him of being a murderer is crossing the line.

For a start, it was not Manning that released the information to the mass media. If he is a murderer for this, then surely the man who supplied the guns to Seung-Hui Cho, the man responsible for the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007, should be charged with murder too.

No, Manning is not a murderer; he is merely the man who set the wheels in motion. Sadly though it appears that the United States will use any charge necessary to pin Manning down, let us not forget the tenuous charge they currently have Julian Assange under.

Orwell famously wrote the words, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever, perhaps this is the United States stamping its boot on the face of not only Bradley Manning, but freedom of speech. Their behaviour in orchestrating an international hunt for Assange, coupled with the torturous treatment of an American national, shows that there is no face free from their reach.

So whilst we undoubtedly feel some sympathy for the boy turned soldier from Oklahoma, the sad truth is that as the days turn into weeks, and the weeks months, the coverage of Manning will evaporate just as surely as a plant deprived of water will die.

He is the twenty-first century’s forgotten man. Perhaps though, the irony is too much for his cell to have the numbers 101 plastered across it? At the way this saga is panning out, I wouldn’t bet against it.