After years of abuse in confinement from denying him a charge to denying him counsel, Pfc. Bradley Manning finally had a trial on the most serious charge against him: aiding the enemy. He was convicted on lesser charges. The verdict should again focus attention on the mistreatment of Manning by the Obama Administration for leaking classified reports and diplomatic cables. Many of these documents showed that the U.S. government was lying to the public and to its allies.
Manning previously pleaded guilty to 10 of 22 counts of lesser charges in giving the documents to Wikileaks. He could still face a long sentence and the Obama Administration has clearly worked to make an example of him after he embarrassed the government with both the public and allies.
The documented abuse of Manning by the Obama Administration while in custody will result in a four-month credit toward his sentencing. Yet there has been virtually no demand for the punishment of those responsible for the abuse.
The acquittal is a victory for military justice. There was never any evidence of an intent to aid the enemy and the overcharging of the case was indicative of the excessive response of the Administration — the same pattern shown with Snowden and Assange. Of course, those false or controversial communications in these documents have not been the focus of coverage by the media.
The verdict is also a vindication for the defense in taking a plea on the earlier charges to focus on the most serious charge.
Source: Politico
Squeaky Fromm…..
You any kin to Lynette Alice “Squeaky” Fromme? If so, I hope you have been truly rehabilitated….. An FYI….. Following illegal orders is against the CMJ….. Just sayin…..
Mark me in the “good news” column.
1st 2 off the AP
**MIT review says school didn’t target Aaron Swartz **
**
Swartz’s girlfriend, Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, calls MIT’s report a “whitewash” and says its behavior was “reprehensible.”**
Below: 8 seconds of life here living in the real world movie of idiocracy.
Go to he”ll Lindsey “Nazi” Graham!
Watch Lindsey Graham- “Shut Up. You Don’t Get a Lawyer!”
Some of these comments are UNBELIEVABLE. Manning was in the Army, and while in uniform you do not get to “do your own thing.” If he had been a civilian, then things would be different. Thank goodness he wasn’t in a nuclear missile silo somewhere when he had his bad hair day, or whatever histrionic twink thing he had going on.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Manning, Snowden, Hasting, etc., etc………………..
We know from history, without a doubt, tyrant govt’s are always coming after you next!
“All men lose when freedom fails, and good men rot in filty jails. And those who cried “appease, appease,” Are hanged by those they sought to please.”
David Rovics – Song for Bradley Manning (official video)
Probably he will be dishonorably discharged and sentenced to time served….. I think his should resolve this matter…. But, like anyone else I’m speculating that the government will do the right thing….. As much as I am shocked that the Hearing Officer found him not guilty…. Anything could happen…..
I agree with Jill that there should be some protest. Manning’s courage to do what he did put all of our leaders to shame. Giving him more jail time after his disgraceful treatment at the hands of our government would in fact reverse all of those sentenced at Nuremberg save for the top leaders. We found them guilty for “following orders” and we find Manning guilty “for not following orders.”
Juliet, We have discussed this previously and are in agreement on some penalty. Aiding and abetting was a big stretch, IMO.
Nick: It was too serious a charge, to begin with. I just wish people would quit making this kid into a hero. He’s not one.
not a jury verdict, bench trial
The time and abuse he served should be sentence enough. Or more than enough.
I think he got more crap from being gay than for what he might have done.
What Manning, Snowden, and the other whistleblowers have shown Americans is that they suffer dementia … dementia induced by the rogue government.
The America we are told about by the government does not exist, thus we don’t know where we are, thus we are delusional:
Amnesty International echo’s JT: “The US government has refused to investigate credible allegations of torture and other crimes under international law despite overwhelming evidence.
Yet they decided to prosecute Manning who it seems was trying to do the right thing – reveal credible evidence of unlawful behaviour by the government. You investigate and prosecute those who destroy the credibility of the government by engaging in acts such as torture which are prohibited under the US Constitution and in international law.
The government’s pursuit of the ‘aiding the enemy’ charge was a serious overreach of the law, not least because there was no credible evidence of Manning’s intent to harm the USA by releasing classified information to WikiLeaks.” (find at guardian)
David Cosson 1, July 30, 2013 at 2:09 pm
“A military jury took relatively little time…..” According to other press reports, Manning waived a jury and the decision was by the Judge.
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The Politico piece reads:
He was also acquitted of one of the lesser offenses he had not yet plead to.
All pressure should be for a pardon. Every reporter should refer to the now scrubbed scrawling of Obama: “Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.”
Ask how Obama squares that with his treatment of Manning. The guardian lists some of the things we learned from Manning. They were so important. We have a right to know what USGinc. is doing in our names.
Other groups are already pointing out that the real message of this trial is to set an example to anyone with the kind of courage Manning and Snowden displayed. This is one evil govt.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/30/bradley-manning-wikileaks-revelations
Good news, or at least better than what it could have been.
I’m clearly in the minority, but I believe he does deserve some punishment for what he did.
I’m glad he was acquitted on the Aiding the Enemy charge but I fear it’s going to be a railroading nonetheless by how many years he will end up serving. I hope I am wrong.
“A military jury took relatively little time…..” According to other press reports, Manning waived a jury and the decision was by the Judge.
A little justice. I guess that is better than none. Free Manning now, please.
It’s nice to hear good news every now and then.
He gets only a four-month credit? That hardly seems just.