Free Bradley Manning!

Bradley Manning has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. He will get "credit" for the 3-1/2 years he has already spent in prison & will be eligible for parole after serving a third of his sentence--which means he could be released in nine years at the age of 33 but without continued defense from us is more likely to rot in jail until he's an old man.

He is still able to petition for a reduced sentence & his case can go to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals where he isn't likely to get a more sympathetic ear.

There are rallies around the US today proclaiming he shouldn't be spending another day in prison but should be feted as a champion of democracy.

On Tuesday, the sentencing phase began in the court-martial of Robert Bales, the soldier who shot up & massacred 16 civilians in Afghanistan in June 2012. Despite the fact that prosecutors have a phone audiotape of him & his wife laughing it up about the charges against him, Bales is unlikely to face the consequences of his crimes--though coming so soon on the heels of the Manning sentence may not serve Bales. It will be harder to give him a mild reprimand after such a draconian sentence for Manning.

Free Bradley Manning!