Defending Bradley Manning
According the Wikipedia report:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Manning
Bradley Manning had a troubled childhood with the separation of his Welsh mother and American father which led to his return to Wales. According to the Wiki report he is a troubled young man.
However, he has graphically demonstrated that in this age of internet communications there are no secrets and that whistle blowers in the military and in other fields have outlets through which to share their concerns with wrong-doing.
Some are now arguing that he should be prosecuted and given a life sentence or even executed.
But let us get things clear here. Manning is no terrorist. He has murdered no one. Any harm that he has caused people is far exceeded by the killing and maiming done by others in states at war or otherwise in turmoil.
What Manning deserves is not punishment, but help with his personal problems. We do as much with others who have done things objectionable — if at not such a massive scale. He has become a symbol of doing the right thing in the face of the offensive doings of others — individuals or governments.
I assume that there are many others now ready to follow his lead.
Let us not forget, either, that he is a very young man who will only be turning 23 on December 17.
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“A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope.” (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
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Ed Kent [blind copies]
5 users commented in " Defending Bradley Manning "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackWow…get a clue. The military and being in the military, sad to say, is not all gum drops and lollipops. He needs to get help with his personal problems??!! Maybe so, but when you reckless release a lot of classified documents (not all of which are relevant to any ‘whistle blowing’ he might do) you do endanger the army which you serve. If you are a traitor in this sense, you deserved to be punished. The army is not equivalent to a corporation. And ‘whistle-blowing’ cannot be taken lightly. If he truly had some gripes, he should have talked to his congressman. Otherwise, in a military setting he must trust the chain of command. If we have everyone in the services constantly questioning their superiors, we do not have a functioning unit. The check to the military needs to be Congress or some of the like.
You are wrong about Manning, he may not have murdered anyone, and maybe he’s not a terrorist in the sense of joining Al-Qaeda, but he HAS put our troops in danger with his actions!!
It’s a disgrace what he did, leaking sensitive information that the enemy can use either for propaganda, or tactically for actual operations purposes. He put our troops lives in grave danger, if he actually did what he is accused of!
If you agree that Manning is a traitor, sign this petiton – http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/traitors_are_not_heroes/
Let’s not forget that Manning disclosed the brutal slaying of civilians and two international newsmen as well, apparently, the source materials for WikiLeaks. Had one been living in Nazi Germany, would one have had justification for exposing its abuses?
FYI:
Incredible – nearly 400,000 signatures in one day for press freedom! Join the massive outcry and forward the email below –
Dear friends,
The chilling intimidation campaign against WikiLeaks (when they have broken no laws) is an attack on freedom of the press and democracy. We urgently need a massive public outcry to stop the crackdown — let’s get to 1 million voices and take out full page ads in US newspapers this week!
The massive campaign of intimidation against WikiLeaks is sending a chill through free press advocates everywhere.
Legal experts say WikiLeaks has likely broken no laws. Yet top US politicians have called it a terrorist group and commentators have urged assassination of its staff. The organization has come under massive government and corporate attack, but WikiLeaks is only publishing information provided by a whistleblower. And it has partnered with the world’s leading newspapers (NYT, Guardian, Spiegel etc) to carefully vet the information it publishes.
The massive extra-judicial intimidation of WikiLeaks is an attack on democracy. We urgently need a public outcry for freedom of the press and expression. Sign the petition to stop the crackdown and forward this email to everyone — let’s get to 1 million voices and take out full page ads in US newspapers this week!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/?vl
WikiLeaks isn’t acting alone — it’s partnered with the top newspapers in the world (New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, etc) to carefully review 250,000 US diplomatic cables and remove any information that it is irresponsible to publish. Only 800 cables have been published so far. Past WikiLeaks publications have exposed government-backed torture, the murder of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, and corporate corruption.
The US government is currently pursuing all legal avenues to stop WikiLeaks from publishing more cables, but the laws of democracies protect freedom of the press. The US and other governments may not like the laws that protect our freedom of expression, but that’s exactly why it’s so important that we have them, and why only a democratic process can change them.
Reasonable people can disagree on whether WikiLeaks and the leading newspapers it’s partnered with are releasing more information than the public should see. Whether the releases undermine diplomatic confidentiality and whether that’s a good thing. Whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has the personal character of a hero or a villain. But none of this justifies a vicious campaign of intimidation to silence a legal media outlet by governments and corporations. Click below to join the call to stop the crackdown:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/?vl
Ever wonder why the media so rarely gives the full story of what happens behind the scenes? This is why – because when they do, governments can be vicious in their response. And when that happens, it’s up to the public to stand up for our democratic rights to a free press and freedom of expression. Never has there been a more vital time for us to do so.
With hope,
Ricken, Emma, Alex, Alice, Maria Paz and the rest of the Avaaz team.
SOURCES:
Law experts say WikiLeaks in the clear (ABC)
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s3086781.htm
WikiLeaks are a bunch of terrorists, says leading U.S. congressman (Mail Online)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1333879/WikiLeaks-terrorists-says-leading-US-congressman-Peter-King.html
Cyber guerrillas can help US (Financial Times)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d3dd7c40-ff15-11df-956b-00144feab49a.html#axzz17QvQ4Ht5
Amazon drops WikiLeaks under political pressure (Yahoo)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101201/tc_afp/usdiplomacyinternetwikileakscongressamazon
“WikiLeaks avenged by hacktivists” (PC World):
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/212701/operation_payback_wikileaks_avenged_by_hacktivists.html
US Gov shows true control over Internet with WikiLeaks containment (Tippett.org)
http://www.tippett.org/2010/12/us-gov-shows-true-control-over-internet-with-wikileaks-containment/
US embassy cables culprit should be executed, says Mike Huckabee (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/us-embassy-cables-executed-mike-huckabee
WikiLeaks ditched by MasterCard, Visa. Who’s next? (The Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2010/1207/WikiLeaks-ditched-by-MasterCard-Visa.-Who-s-next
Assange’s Interpol Warrant Is for Having Sex Without a Condom (The Slatest)
http://slatest.slate.com/id/2276690/
What the army did was wrong. Have you seen this video: http://www.collateralmurder.com/ If not, you should. The government REFUSED to release this video to the Reuters team that dispatched these innocent reporters to DO THEIR JOB. Yes, he could, as Stb says just blindly listen to people “up the chain of command,” but instead he did what was right. What he did hasn’t endangered anyone or anything, except the lies our government has been spouting. Open your eyes. It’s not Manning who has betrayed you, but your government officials.
On the other hand, just because he had a “troubled” childhood doesn’t mean anything to me. What he did was an act of courage. I don’t know why people feel the need to make “excuses” for him when he hasn’t done anything wrong. Sometimes breaking the law IS the right thing to do when the people making and enforcing the laws are wrong.
So much for transparency, and anyone who tries it will be labeled “a terrorist” Oh yes and add who endangers the people just to make sure they know it is for their own good and to cover the next time we have to stiffle the media. He could argue he was helping the president with his “promised” transparency in goverment “. He was just helping Obama fufill his renigged promise.
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