Paypal Shutters Bradley Manning Defense Account

In yet another move that gives businesses and individuals reason to not use Paypal, eBay Inc. owned Paypal has shut off the account of Courage to Resist, which is aiding in the defense of US Army Pfc. Bradley Manning.

For those who don't know who Bradley Manning is, he is the person responsible for leaking video of a US helicopter to Wikileaks, video that shows US military personnel gunning down innocent civilians, including some Reuters reporters. Oh, and there were children in the van that was blown to shreds by the US helicopter. The video of the incident, called Collateral Murder, can be found on Youtube. Whatever your views on the Iraq war are, the video is chilling to watch as not only are civilians gunned down by the US military, but the voice track of the soldiers is playing the whole time.

There are really only two sides to this incident. One, the US military did something reprehensible in shooting unarmed civilians and that Manning is a good guy for showing the world. Or two, the US was justified in shooting all of the people in the video and that Manning is a treasonous dog for painting the US military in a fashion that is less than honorable.

But even if you subscribe to the second side's view, surely he should receive a fair trial. It seems asinine that Paypal would shut down an account that was helping to pay for his defense. I can't help but wonder if the dolts at eBay walk around wondering why they get a bad rap.

A petition in favor of Bradley Manning is available here: http://www.standwithbrad.org