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I'm glad they didn't get that charge. If we set the precedent that he was "helping the enemy", then I think they're going to have to go ahead and indict a huge number of individuals for various eventualities.
As an aside, the guy in the photo in that article (On Manning's left side).. Him and I were stationed in Mannheim, Germany together in 2008. I have no idea why he's escorting Manning around in all these photos. It's weird. He's a signal guy. Maybe he re-classed.
It's a charge that hasn't been levied since the Civil War I think. So yeah, it was probably a fair call.
But be aware of the guilty charges for the other offenses - no doubt he won't be a free man for decades, if at all ever again. Instead of a 300 year sentence he will just get a 50 year sentence. The impact is the same.
"Giving aid and comfort to the enemy" is language taken from a time when the USA was engaged in conventional wars with other nation states. This is not the modern dynamic at all. In the modern world, our primary concern is not other nations. Its small bands of people who wish the USA and Americans harm. Who exactly is the "enemy" that Private Manning gave comfort too? Is someone going to answer "the terrorists"? Oh ok. That's a pretty broad definition of enemy. Which terrorists? How exactly did Manning give aid and comfort to them?
I'm glad he was acquitted of such a charge. Regardless of what Private Manning actually did, I think accusing him of such a violation is clearly overreaching.
The military justice system is actually, overall, a pretty decent and fair system. In some ways , it may be better than civilian courts.
I'm glad that he wasn't convicted of the most serious charge but unhappy that he was convicted on most of the others. Although some of the things he did was unwise and should have carried consequences all in all I think he's a quintessential whistleblower. His motives matter and he was motivated by his conscience after seeing war crimes committed that was hidden from the world. He didn't do it to benefit financially or due to sympathies with "the enemy".
I think it was a fair result in that he was found guilty of what he never denied. His defense doomed him on the other charges tho as it made the intent not to help the enemy but admitted he did what he was found guilty of.
I'm glad that he wasn't convicted of the most serious charge but unhappy that he was convicted on most of the others. Although some of the things he did was unwise and should have carried consequences all in all I think he's a quintessential whistleblower. His motives matter and he was motivated by his conscience after seeing war crimes committed that was hidden from the world. He didn't do it to benefit financially or due to sympathies with "the enemy".
I agree. I recently heard that the Obama administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers than all the other administrations combined.
John Le Carre said, in an interview, that one of the preservers of democracy are our whistleblowers. I agree. Someone said that if taxpayers are funding these projects, maybe they have a right to know what's going on. After all, as stated, we no longer have 'the enemy', but small bands of twisted minded people bent on tearing us down. Giving up our freedoms to find them might be thought of as tearing us down. A lot of espionage, probably much government sponsored, has to do with corporate espionage.
I think some monitoring of correspondence is probably wise, frankly, because of the nature of technology, and I also think the government, like a child, will usually overstep the boundaries of what we allow it to do, so it's best to set that bar high.
These whistleblowers are young idealists. They are not plants from a foreign government. As mentioned they have not asked for money for information. They are acting to preserve freedoms, on behalf of the public. I really don't think there should be penalties for doing what they did.
Five days ago I started a petition for people to volunteer to serve some of Brad's sentence. Over 3200 people have signed it. Although highly doubtful we would be allowed to go to jail... at the very least we could serve his time in our community. Join us. It gives him courage and strength to know we support him. [url=http://org.credoaction.com/petitions/how-much-time-would-you-serve-for-bradley-manning]I will proudly serve part of Bradley Manning's Sentence | CREDO Action[/url]
Please blog it and tweet and FB it...it is so important to stand up for what this young man has done for all of us.
This certainly also sets a precedent for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is still holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
Do you know that Julian is running for the senate in Australia?
If he wins he will be a dignitary from another country. That might give him diplomatic immunity when he decides to travel, no? Julian Assange Is Running For Office In Australia
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