Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in jail (1 Viewer)

[Graney]

He should have been punished because he confessed to breaking the law and he did practice Civil Disobedience. So he deserves some punishment, but he has already received (in my estimation) excessive amounts of punishment. He has been in prison for over 3 years as well as tortured, and most military personnel who are caught committing war crimes never receive any penalties. I think he should be released now, that he has done us a great service by letting the people know the truth, he's a whistleblower in my estimation (even the courts did not charge him with aiding the enemy), and I believe his goal was to inform the American people of the truth about what was happening in the Iraq / Afghanistan Wars.

 

[wannaspoon]

"our dissenters are silence not praised..." John F Kennedy

complete and utter miscarriage of justice... However, it was a good result... considering he was facing the death penalty...

 

[pony_magician]

Chelsea* Manning

yes, pls respect peoples choices

 

[townie]

okay, please explain how this is a travesty of justice.

Because at best he's a whistleblower, at worst he made a stupid mistake that ultimately didn't cause any damage except for ego's. 35 years for that is a travesty of justice in my eyes

 

[isildurrrr1]

He should have been punished because he confessed to breaking the law and he did practice Civil Disobedience. So he deserves some punishment, but he has already received (in my estimation) excessive amounts of punishment. He has been in prison for over 3 years as well as tortured, and most military personnel who are caught committing war crimes never receive any penalties. I think he should be released now, that he has done us a great service by letting the people know the truth, he's a whistleblower in my estimation (even the courts did not charge him with aiding the enemy), and I believe his goal was to inform the American people of the truth about what was happening in the Iraq / Afghanistan Wars.

He got off pretty lightly. He's lucky to avoid the death penalty for leaking info. If he just leaked out specific warcrimes, sure. He didn't leak ANYTHING that shows the US military actively committed or hid any warcrimes. Leaking diplomatic cables isnt really exposing war crimes in iraq now is it.

 

[nerdasdasd]

He got off pretty lightly. He's lucky to avoid the death penalty for leaking info. If he just leaked out specific warcrimes, sure. He didn't leak ANYTHING that shows the US military actively committed or hid any warcrimes. Leaking diplomatic cables isnt really exposing war crimes in iraq now is it.

I'm pretty sure it is for releasing war crimes ...

 

[nerdasdasd]

America wouldn't declare that they have committed war crimes ....

 

[funkshen]

Because at best he's a whistleblower, at worst he made a stupid mistake that ultimately didn't cause any damage except for ego's. 35 years for that is a travesty of justice in my eyes

Do you line up at the local court and pity all the fools who make stupid mistakes? A stupid, mistaken breach of the law is a breach of the law nonetheless - and this was most assuredly not a stupid mistake. As a government employee you know about security clearances and can probably surmise the vigorous education Manning was given on the potential penalties that follow from leaking top secret documents.

Also, how do you reconcile his whistleblower status with the notion that he didn't cause any damage? If he caused no damage, its hard to believe that he blew any whistles at all. This is quite clearly the opposite of the Snowdens and Ellsbergs of the world.

I agree that the punishment is harsh, but military justice (a code of justice he VOLUNTARILY subjected himself to) has always been harsh; likewise, seditionists, spies, traitors and the like have always been treated harshly. In all likelihood he will not serve his full sentence and will make parole in 8 years. His likely release is, in this light, quite a generous outcome.

 

[isildurrrr1]

America wouldn't declare that they have committed war crimes ....

Name one warcrime with factual evidence. I don't think you know what the definition of a war crime is. Do soldiers commit crimes on their own? Sure. Do they get a go ahead from upper command? Fuck no. Actions of individual soldiers being fucktards =/= the whole military committing a war crime.

Edit: In fact, Iraq insurgents aren't protected by the geneva convention. They already broke one of the most sacred rules of having known identification as a combatant force eg having armbands identifying that youre a militia/military unit. Wearing civilian clothing and picking up an AK shooting at soldiers and planting IED's in itself pretty much is breaking upon the rules of the GC.

 

[nerdasdasd]

Name one warcrime with factual evidence. I don't think you know what the definition of a war crime is. Do soldiers commit crimes on their own? Sure. Do they get a go ahead from upper command? Fuck no. Actions of individual soldiers being fucktards =/= the whole military committing a war crime.

In the video of the civilians getting gunned down (by the helicopter's guns), the soldiers asked higher command if they could fire .... they did get the go ahead from upper command.

 

[funkshen]

In the video of the civilians getting gunned down (by the helicopter's guns), the soldiers asked higher command if they could fire .... they did get the go ahead from upper command.

No. The "Collateral Murder" scandal was only ever a scandal at all because of the botched, harebrained attempt to cover it up.

 

[Kiraken]

He should have been punished because he confessed to breaking the law and he did practice Civil Disobedience. So he deserves some punishment, but he has already received (in my estimation) excessive amounts of punishment. He has been in prison for over 3 years as well as tortured, and most military personnel who are caught committing war crimes never receive any penalties. I think he should be released now, that he has done us a great service by letting the people know the truth, he's a whistleblower in my estimation (even the courts did not charge him with aiding the enemy), and I believe his goal was to inform the American people of the truth about what was happening in the Iraq / Afghanistan Wars.

wait, so what was their actual motivation for passing on that info to Wikileaks? Was it really some noble whistleblower thing or was it simply a bitter act of rebellion resulting from a troubled young person?

 

[isildurrrr1]

In the video of the civilians getting gunned down (by the helicopter's guns), the soldiers asked higher command if they could fire .... they did get the go ahead from upper command.

The reason why the apaches were sent in the first place was because ground pounders called them in. That whole area the journalists went into was declared entirely HOSTILE. Again, look up the definition of a warcrime and come back to me.

Those cameras looked like RPG tubes and AK's, and why the fuck do you bring your kids into an active combat zone, it's not like the Reuters employees lived there.

oh and nice editing off this video wikileaks

While the Air Weapons Team was providing support at the first engagement area they were informed by ground troops that they were receiving small arms fire from the south/southwest. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/8 then located multiple individuals with weapons about 400 meters east of coalition forces and was given clearance to engage the targets. However, the co-pilot/gunner then observed a child and some other non-combatants in the vicinity of the individuals and decided to hold off on the engagement until the non-combatants were clear. After the non-combatants were clear Crazyhorse 1/8 engaged the targets. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/9 could not engage due to target obfuscation from buildings and dust

Yeah those pilots are real assholes.

 

[Frostbitten]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...vate-will-transition-unclear/article13940015/

What the actual fuck.

 

[isildurrrr1]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...vate-will-transition-unclear/article13940015/

What the actual fuck.

hes just trying to get LGBT support to pressure the gov to release him.

 

[Lolsmith]

hes just trying to get LGBT support to pressure the gov to release him.

Are you serious?

 

[isildurrrr1]

Are you serious?

no it does bring up political pressure from derpy people though. its a very last ditch attempt. he should've been fired under DADT anyway.

 

[soloooooo]

He should have gotten the death penalty.

 

[isildurrrr1]

He should have gotten the death penalty.

sadly it'll only make him a martyr.

 

[kaz1]

He should be given the Noble Peace Prize.