Of democracy, or, in which our government acknowledges that protest saves lives

Comment published on New York Times blog, in response to news article “Austin orders overhaul to better protect civilians during U.S. combat operations,” August 26, 2022":

This article acknowledges the role of journalistic reports and protests in giving publicity to the attacks on civilians. But there are a couple of things about which one can still wonder:

1) Some recent US wars (like that in Iraq) have caused so much loss of civilian lives that one can wonder if that is not as much policy as error, and

2) It is reason to affirm the importance of the heroic work of whistleblowers and journalists like Snowden, Manning, and Assange, who continue to suffer persecution at the hands of our government.

This newspaper is always apt to call out injustices when it is to the advantage of their own 'liberal' Democratic faction, and when they do not seem so far-reaching that that faction's purposes are also impugned. Hence the near silence about the imminent extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange.

This news story vindicates his efforts even more than the apparent good intentions of our military leaders. It reminds us of how much political dissent and protest can matter. Would that our enlightened liberal administration recognized that even more.