Bradley Manning: The Independent's "Under-appreciated Hero of 2010"

Fagburn was really pleased to see Johann Hari write about the plight of Bradley Manning, placing the Wikileaks whistleblower first in his list of "Under-appreciated Heroes of 2010" - making up for their patronising front cover story last Saturday (above).
"While we were all fixated on Julian Assange, the story of the young American soldier who actually leaked the classified documents passed almost unnoticed. If Manning was mentioned at all, it was to be described as an impetuous, angry kid who downloaded the documents on to a CD and leaked them as a result of a "grudge" or "tantrum"..."
"To prevent the major crime of torturing and murdering innocents, [Manning] committed the minor crime of leaking the evidence. He has spent the last seven months in solitary confinement – a punishment that causes many prisoners to go mad, and which the US National Commission on Prisons called "torturous". He is expected to be sentenced to 80 years in jail at least. The people who allowed torture have faced no punishment at all. Manning's decision was no "tantrum" – it was one of the most admirable stands for justice and freedom of 2010."
Hear hear.