Basic agreement if you live in the US: You don't try to mess us over, and we'll let you decide when to wear clothes.

“Obama Defends Detention Conditions for Soldier Accused in WikiLeaks Case

By SCOTT SHANE

The president said he had been assured that measures such as forcing Pfc. Bradley Manning to sleep without clothing were justified and for his safety.” (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/politics/index.html)

            Whether or not you like Mr. Obama, I think the President deserves some props for this.

            Here’s why: Private First Class Bradley Manning decided for himself, over the better judgment of all his superiors and also of the United States Government, that certain information deserved to be seen by the world at large, and thus he took it into his own hands and leaked private information illegally. This information was not his to leak, it wasn’t about him, and it didn’t affect him. It was about, and affected, other people.

            Presumably, Private First Class Bradley wants to sleep in his clothes. Even if he didn’t, he would still want the right to decide for himself whether or not to sleep in them. Maybe he would want to start with them off and then put them back on when it gets cold. Using Private Manning’s own logic in illegally leaking information to Wikileaks, President Obama decided to take away Private Manning’s clothes at night.

            Is this a suitable punishment for leaking possibly vital government information to a foreign source? Of course not. It is, however, a clever way for Obama to stick it to a traitor. There are few things Obama can do to him before he is convicted under US law. Taking away his clothes at night is one of the few things he can do at this stage, and it’s fitting for someone who tried to mess over a lot of people to not get any mercy from the President. It’s always scary when someone outside yourself makes important decisions for you; but because Manning doesn’t seem to feel this way, it’s perfectly appropriate for Obama to decide the Private shouldn’t get to sleep with his clothes on, claiming it’s for Manning’s own safety.

            I also think this lends itself to a bigger debate about what’s more important, your supposed rights or the safety of other people. Private Manning decided that people have the “right” to see what is going on inside the American Govt. and thus he risked doing a lot of damage by leaking private information. The New York Times had the “right” to publish the information about the money-tracking system that was in use by banks to catch terrorists. However, in my opinion, the editors should’ve said to themselves that it’s more important for our government to keep on tracking these dangerous groups than it is for a random American citizen to know how they are tracked. There are things that are more important than the right of the citizens to know about information that don’t affect them.