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The WikiLeaks suspect's mistreatment amounts to torture. Either President Obama knows this or he should make it his business. The president refused to comment on PJ Crowley's (State department Spokesperson) statement that the treatment of Manning is "ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid". Prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity - the punishments currently being levied upon Manning - come right out of the manual of the CIA for "enhanced interrogation". Such practices are applied in Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. It's what the CIA calls "no-touch torture", and its purpose is to demoralise someone to the point of offering a desired confession regardless of whether it is true or false.

The leaking of more than 390,000 previously secret US military reports details the hidden realities of the war in Iraq. More than 100,000 people have died and whole towns such as Falluja have been reduced to near-rubble, while allegations of brutal abuse by some US and UK soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere continue to surface. WikiLeaks has defied the Pentagon to pass this data on to a wide range of media organizations such as newspapers and other webpages.

The subject of wikileaks has opened much debate as to whether the website has gone too far or whether they are simply picking up the loose end of an underachieving US Media, however, even as such organizations as Amnesty International award the webpage, they have faced continued animosity as they reveal revelations that the US Government simply did not want publicized. Shockingly and contrary to government reports, troops manning checkpoints or riding convoy shoot at innocent civilians or torture prisoners. In one report, 69,000 out of the 109,000 deaths recorded from Army checkpoints were civilians.

This article brings up a good question regarding whether the United States military has been honest in their reports of "enemy" casualties. Another important question is posed at the end of the article with a pentagon statement: "Condemning this fresh leak, however, the Pentagon said: "This security breach could very well get our troops and those they are fighting with killed. Our enemies will mine this information looking for insights into how we operate, cultivate sources and react in combat situations, even the capability of our equipment." Where do we draw the line between the citizens' right to know and the safety of government operations? Is it acceptable to allow secrecy to protect citizens or do the citizens have a right to know all that the government does? These are interesting questions given that the government is to be responsible to the citizenry, however, what if included in that responsibility is keeping certain information classified?