Torture

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" -- Monty Python
  
   Question: Why is Pfc. Bradley Manning charged and held for leaking government documents while Julian Assange, who spread them, and news media execs, who published them, are not punished?

   The answer comes in several parts.
   One: First Amendment rules do not neccessarily apply to Private Manning, who was charged under military law, not civil.
   Two: Manning was not charged with publishing the documents about military behavior at Abu Ghraib prison, but with leaking them, thus violating his security clearance.
   Three: Assange, founder of Wikileaks, is an Australian citizen, living in Denmark at the time of the alleged offense.
   Four: The documents made available by Wikileaks were published in other countries, including Australia, England and Germany, then -- as they were visible to the world -- published in America.
   Five: American news media have First Amendment protection. It's possible that they might have been prosecuted if national security were involved, but that's doubtful, since the documents and photos depicted events that occurred in the past and were of questionable legality in the first place.
   Six: People have a right to know what their government is doing in their name, and how government justifies what many deem torture.
   Seven: Government lawyers redefined "torture" out of existence, and people have a right to know this.

   The Grand Inquisitors of the Middle Ages felt that anything was permissible as long as interrogators did not break any bones or puncture skin or cause bleeding.
   Nonetheless, it was torture.