Julian Assange is 48 years old and on the verge of death in the Belmarsh prison in England. According to a New York Times article, a letter was sent to Britain's home secretary that was signed by 60 doctors, asking that Assange be moved out of Belmarsh to receive an expert medical opinion.
Even though multiple news sources have suggested that Assange could be knocking on Death's doorstep, nothing has been done to increase Assange's chances in prison. Assange is facing the consequences of simply reporting the truth.
If you haven't seen Collateral Murder, which shows the brutal murders of multiple people in Baghdad, you need to. This video was leaked by the organization Assange started, Wikileaks. Without it, the American public would have no idea the true nature of what soldiers in Iraq were truly doing.
The video is from an airstrike in 2007 where you can hear soldiers conversing back and forth as they attack innocent civilians. In the video, you can hear the soldiers laugh and joke around after murdering people.
In my eyes, murder of any kind is not a laughable offense, no matter if the murder was justified or not. After seeing this video that Assange helped leak, it showed me that the war in Iraq is not justifiable with actions like this going on. It makes me not want to root for our soldiers or fight for our nation. This revelation makes me despise our country and our obsession with war.
Frankly, there isn't enough media coverage about this video. Granted, it has been about a decade since it came out, but there is more coverage on Assange and his punishment rather than the possible punishment these soldiers should be facing.
Assange's life is on the line, but these soldiers who saw themselves as God are roaming free. Meanwhile, Chelsea Manning, the whistleblower, had to sit trial for exposing these awful people. Not one of those soldiers has been charged with murder, but those who did the right thing, and told the truth, they're the ones facing the consequences.
A common trend among whistleblowers and third-party publishers is that they are the enemy of the people. A quick google search shows the searing articles damning Julian Assange for what he's done. The sad reality is that those so-called journalists could never have the courage to do what he did. To go against the American people's idolized view of the military is a large task, but Assange did it with no hesitation.
As an aspiring journalist who graduates in May, I hope to become half of the journalist Assange is. At the end of the day, my duty is, to tell the truth to my audience, whether they wish to hear it or not.
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