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
I’m ambivalent on Manning. While every nation needs whistleblowers, you can’t have people leaking things for their own purposes. One of the commenters above makes a good point, but I’d use another similar example. Assume you are the on the ground crew of the Enola Gay about to set off for Hiroshima with “Little Boy” attached. A pang of conscience compels you to report the mission due to your opposition to nuclear war. It hits the media and the mission is scrubbed. Now thousands of American soldiers will likely die in more island hopping and house to house searches. What was the moral choice? Is our leaker heroic or just naive? Where is Manning on the heroic/naive scale?
Maybe we need “Ex Post Facto” constitutional lawsuits by the ACLU in the “Articles” section of the U.S. Constitution?
Where have the clergy or religious leaders been? They should have been on the same moral side as Manning and speaking up.
sonofthunder: Clearly you are the elephant that cannot listen.
If Manning had revealed a secret like the cracking of Enigma, or the detailed plans of the nuclear bomb; I would see that as treason. The only way you are able to condemn him is by resorting to such extreme acts and then claiming what Manning did was on part with that.
But then you turn around and say Manning did not reveal anything of importance, or anything our enemies did not already know.
You don’t get it both ways. Manning is a hero because the vast majority of the secrets he revealed were being kept from us, the citizens, and we are not the enemy.
You say, “WE are the only dullards that don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. And why do we need to know? We don’t.”
First, we do need to know, because we are the boss of our government, we are not its pets.
My cat doesn’t care if I conduct my business honorably or criminally. My dog doesn’t have to work for his income, and he is not paying me to act on behalf of him or his fellow dogs. I have not sworn an oath to faithfully represent Dog interests in my dealings in return for a salary the Dog community pays me.
We are not pets. It is our business to know if they are acting in selfish interest when they have sworn not to, it is our business to know if they are breaking laws we have commanded them to obey, and it is our business to know if they are using our money to line their pockets and bestow riches upon their friends, to hire criminals and keep evil people in power for their own selfish ends, to usurp our rights, and in general to try to turn us into pets. Or more accurately, serfs whose labor they can steal for their own profit.
The “little elves” you mention are killing US citizens, sending young men to fight and die for corporate interests (oil and otherwise), and giving away trillions of dollars for their own selfish interest (amounting to tens of thousands of dollars for every typical taxpayer). They are crafting laws that undermine the safety and financial security of YOU, so more of your paycheck can be diverted into the pockets of the wealthy corporations.
You want to demote yourself to dog instead of citizen, and just wait for your dish to be filled twice a day. You seem to think you’d enjoy living out your life in a prison yard, looking out past the fence and barking at strangers, anticipating your 30 minutes of leashed “freedom” in the afternoon.
The question is not about what we need to know, but what we are entitled to know. We are entitled to know that the people we hire to represent us and act on our behalf are actually doing that, both for reasons of conscience (which you seem to lack, since you imply any means justifies the ends), and for reasons of self-interest, since what they do is ultimately paid for by taxing our labors and assets in one way or another.
http://news.yahoo.com/rand-paul-only-no-vote-comey-gets-fbi
Rand Paul Was the Only ‘No’ Vote as Comey Gets FBI Director Confirmation
Like what terrible wrongs has Mr. Obama committed? (Bush yes I agree) Protecting you from enemies of the state? I’d think you’d thank him for doing that or you wouldn’t have the freedoms you enjoy now otherwise.
Back during the American Revolution, where would you have stood on the traitor Benedict Arnold? That’s what Manning was akin too. But fortunately our enemies ALREADY knew what Manning was peddling. Why do you think Putin is literally YAWNING at Snowden’s evidence? It’s all bulls&^t! The SVR (former KGB) and the Chinese MSS all fully aware of Snowden’s package ever since it was invented in the 1960’s. Why? Because we have “moles” in our IC (as history will tell you).
Manning’s package is equally stale. The Russian’s were always aware they were being “listened” to. But didn’t care as they could feed us disinformation. They know about our Bush-man-John-O-Brennan-invented Predator Drone program. They know about our friendly-fire cock-ups in Afghanistan (hell they had a few in Afghanistan too back in the 1980’s ). So Manning is wasting his time as WE are the only dullards that don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. And why do we need to know? We don’t. What the little elves do at night to repair our collective shoes is really not our concern. Just as long as the shoes fit in the morning. Or the donuts & coffee are ready in the morning.
You people are making “much ado about nothing”!
For what??? All of Manning’s careless exposures were related to GEORGE W.BUSH not Mr. Obama. And if you had paid attention in High School Social Studies instead of (you know) you’d know that no “high power lawyer” can file a lawsuit against a POTUS (President of USA). Only the Speaker of the House can bring charges of high crimes and misdemeanors (terms of impeachment?) against the POTUS. And Mr. Obama has NOT committed anything like Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton who in fact did.
John Boehner is not stupid enough to open that can of worms as he knows there is absolutely no evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors on anyone in the Executive. Only wishful thinking from Obama-haters who have nothing to legitimately hate him on except (you know).
So far Mr. Obama is only trying to protect your (and my) butt from Hadji, Mohammed, Vladimir, Xi, Kim, and Arik & Bebe (Likud Party?)… It’s a shame that we have to be protected from Arik & Bebe – so called friends… who are more dangerous than the others as they are engrained into our society like deer-ticks (i.e. AIPAC?).
@scribe, how about some high powered lawyer filing a lawsuit against Mr. Obama for violating the constitution that he was supposed to protect?
observer,
No one feels that frustration more than most of us who write here. Our problem is a matter of priorities. For each crisis, it is important to ask what we can do. In the case of this blog, the purpose is to bring that all-important medicine, the tincture of sunshine. Shedding light on the abuses is an important way in which to deal with these troubling issues. One person, or even relatively small group of people can do much. However, this blog is one heck of a soapbox, and hopefully can do its part in getting people to stop talking and doing something about it. In a comment this morning, I told someone who complained to do some volunteer work, or even run for local office. One person at a time. That is what we need.
I am hopeful that one day the sleeping giant who has been voting against his or her self interest will awaken and get out the pitchforks and torches. About 80% of the adults in this country either are below the poverty level, or have lived below the poverty level at one time. For the first time, we have reached a point where the homeless and poor are beginning to have a predominately pale face rather than a dark face. Someday, people will get a belly full. We just have not reached the tipping point yet.
I feel all the high powered lawyers on this site, including JT are so helpless in doing something about the abuses of this administration, like filing a lawsuit against the president/administration, but the most you all can do is to intellectualize here and do nothing to help the whistleblowers and punish the actual criminals that manning and snowder exposed….if the only thing lawyers like you can do is to just do self catharsis here then I am not sure what ordinary people with no legal training can do about these abuses…
OS,
Great clip and very appropriate. Sad, but true.
MabelMabel,
I see you have not spent much time hanging around courthouses and prosecutor’s offices. They offer defendants a deal, but with the understanding that if it goes to trial the gloves come off and if he loses the prosecutor will ask for the maximum sentence. It is a Hobson’s choice. His own lawyer will advise him on the strength of his defense, and what evidence the judge is going to allow in. If he has a relatively weak defense, or if much of his exculpatory evidence is likely to be disallowed, he may take the deal. Some defendants take a gamble.
I had one some time back that was offered ten or fifteen weeks of house arrest, but he refused because he said he was not going to plead guilty to something he had not done. He was looking at anywhere from ten years to life if he was convicted. Both his attorney and I thought he was going to lose, but the jury was only out twenty minutes and came back with a verdict of not guilty on all nine charges. A lot depends on how much the defendant is willing to gamble. The prosecutor has nothing to lose, literally. The defendant has a lot to lose.
Juliet, I’m guessing even Manning himself thought he is deserving of some punishment, as he pled guilty to some of the charges before the trial. I can only hope that I would be as brave as him, and be willing to face charges, in order to expose terrible wrongs committed by my government — to me, that is the quintessential hero.
Resurrected from October 18, 2006. This “Special Comment” is as valid now as it was seven years ago. Only the name(s) of the principal(s) have changed.
Glad to see there was a little justice, but a pardon should be in order, since he’s been punished enough while being tortured! Isn’t torture enough punishment for you who want punishment?
Obama and his crony corporatists and GOP thugs are doing their best to punish the truth tellers and reward the criminal bankster cartel. Truth is treason in the empire of lies.
squeeky
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._v._Reynolds
Dredd:
That was an interesting post. I have similar ideas about the relationship between Sunday School and conservative/libertarian economic theories, that gross income disparity is a physical manifestation of the sinfulness of the poor. My goodness, there are lots of people who think a credit score is a good indication of the degree of morality, and the higher it is, the more moral the person. Meanwhile, I suspect that it is often inversely related, and perhaps even an indicia of sociopathy. Have you ever heard of a guy named Carl Jung??? Because he has some ideas about things called archetypes, and how people get caught up in patterned thinking. I think most people have archetypes in mind, and tend to fit their opinions about other people into those archetypes.
sonofthunker: Hmmm. Notice how much SMARTER the Air Force spy was???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@Squeaky – Have your dad or you Google: Jeffrey Carney and rethink your USAF statement.
OKY1 – Why would Manning be tortured? There’s no reason for EIT as he really has no enemy intelligence. He only has stuff our IC already knows. Why he felt the need to violate his NDA is puzzling. I think someone is suggesting he is a Hermaphrodite with the basic mental disorders they from. If you look up What Manning actually revealed you will find a NPR interview with an expert witness at his trial. What he revealed was back under George W. Bush’s regime not Mr. Obama. The killed reporter was in 2007 and it was the Apache helo crew that broke protocol and opened fire NOT Mr. Bush or Mr. Obama. However Bush was responsible for allowing John O Brennan to play with his toys back then (MQ-1 Preds with AGM-114’s.)
BTW – I am no warmonger. I may be defending the POTUS and the IC (to a degree) but I view them as necessary evils. Sorry Barry – not dissin’ ya’ bro…
Squeeky Fromm, Girl Reporter 1, July 30, 2013 at 9:03 pm
… My father, who was in the Air Force, always said that the Army was a pretty stupid outfit, and if it wasn’t for the Air Force, the Army couldn’t win a war period…
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So your dad was Squirty Fromm eh?
Isn’t he the one who started the Squeeky Squirty wars between the Army and the Air Force?
A guy with real vision wasn’t he?
And your MOMCOM … well needless to say … we all know she was a virgin, just like your daddy.