Chelsea Manning paying heavy price for a free society

Peace campaigner Ruairí McKiernan spoke to Susan Manning, the mother of the US army whistleblower formerly known as Bradley, about her son’s actions

IT’S rarely considered that teaching children to always tell the truth can prove dangerous later in life. If Chelsea Manning, the 25-year-old US solider formerly known as Bradley, is guilty of anything, then it’s telling the truth, something her grandmother may have had a key role in influencing.

“If you can’t tell the truth, then don’t bother talking,” is what she used to say to Bradley, according to Susan Manning, the imprisoned soldier’s softly spoken Welsh mother whom I met in Dublin during a visit organised by the Afri peace and justice group.