PVT Manning Is No Hero
by Big Dog on Jun 3, 2013 at 16:38 Political
The long awaited trial of Private Bradley Manning began today at Fort Meade Maryland. It has been a few years since Manning was arrested for releasing hundreds of thousands of documents that he contends the public had a right to see and the disclosure of which would spark a debate on our role of our military and our foreign policy.
Perhaps he is correct about all of those assertions. It is quite possible that the contents of the documents should be available to the public and perhaps they would spark debate. Let us assume all of that is true.
Another truth is that Manning was not in a position to make that call and it was not his right or his duty to release the information.
Bradley Manning was charged with analyzing intelligence and guarding that information. He was supposed to guard the information in accordance with the rules established for it. Someone classified the information and decided that it was not to be publicly available.
Manning disregarded the classifications and the instructions to keep the information from being released. He decided and took it upon himself to gather it and release it to someone who would make it public. This is where he went wrong. He broke the law and he is no hero for doing so.
People in certain positions within the government are charged with doing jobs that require secrecy. Manning was in such a position and he failed to do what he was trained to do. He failed to do what he was ethically and legally bound to do.
The fact of the matter is it does not make any difference if the information is damning, if it should be available to the public or if it would spark debate because Manning was not allowed to take that decision and he was not allowed to release the information.
There are those who support him and call him a hero. He is a traitor and he should spend a very long time in jail.
Suppose something he felt should be made public resulted in a terror attack in America. Suppose what he released was used by the enemy to attack and kill members of our military. I know that many on the left might still view him as a hero but most folks would be quite upset if what Manning released was used to harm them or their families or our nation.
Manning is a confused young man with many mental health issues. He got in a snit and did something very stupid and now he will have to pay.
No matter what, he is no hero.
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: bradley manning, disclosure, lies, secrets, spying, traitor
Manning is a traitor- but because noone died (that we know of), he might get life- but oour society has become pusses- we fail, time and again, to mete out the true justice needed. We need, as a nation, to begin taking these leaks of classified nature seriously, and punish accordingly. Only then will we begin to stuanch the bleeding that progressive liberal socialists inflict on us, just because, in their minds, they are more “right” than the laws.
To assume that ALL classified data impacts “national security” is to subscribe to the notion that no government/military bureaucrat ever used the process to conceal a mistake or crime. Manning was very low in the
food chainchain of command. So were the grunt camp guards at Auschwitz and Buchenwald but they nevertheless “followed orders”. Manning did not, and for that he has been subjected to three years of confinement under conditions any civilized person would find barbaric.Never mind the “suppose” scenarios related above which are nothing more than “what if” fabrications; let us view one of the real events which Manning revealed and was to be hidden by being “classified”. The prosecution in Manning’s case will not attempt to demonstrate any harm resulting from his revelations, nor can they.
Compare the “supposed” possible harm Manning caused to this event.
You are right, Manning is no hero. He is only a traitor to the mindless military bureaucracy and their politician bosses that wish to conceal their embarrassing screw-ups from the American people. He has in fact plead guilty to the charges you describe and should be sentenced to the time he has already served.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!
Your argument has merit but you fail the logic test when you claim that he is no traitor and then excuse what he did. Manning was not in a position to decide what got released and what did not. There are other avenues to get the information out. He could have followed a legal path, written to his members of Congress and discussed with his chain of command. No matter what the response, he had no authority to do what he did. He admitted as much by pleading guilty.
Whether or not he is guilty of other charges remains to be seen.
As for time served, no way. He can get whatever the minimum sentence is if the Court thinks that is appropriate. He released classified documents and if he aided the enemy he will be in jail for a very long time.
And we know that politicians use classification to cover up. Obama is doing it now…
I would like to know how you got that signature on there…
Big Dog,
Sorry about failing your “logic test” but you either failed to note or ignored my reference to Manning being a traitor to a mindless military and political bureaucracy. He did attempt to utilize the “chain of command” to call attention to instances of abuses by military personnel. His efforts were ignored by his superiors. Most of us who have been in the military know what happens when a “grunt” goes “over the heads” of his superior officers. It ain’t pleasant.
I would assume you and your readers have viewed the “Collateral Murder” video which I linked to in my original comment. That video was ordered “destroyed” by Manning’s “chain of command” in the obvious coverup of a HUGE clusterfuck.
The conditions of Manning’s pre trial detention of over 1000 days amount to cruel and unusual punishment PRIOR to any conviction. This is in flagrant violation of Article 13 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The prosecution does not intend and cannot prove Manning materially “aided the enemy” whomever that may be. Compare his treatment to that of Leon Panetta. During the production of the Obama glorifying motion picture “Zero Dark Thirty” he publicly revealed the identity of both the unit as well as the name of its commanding officer who assassinated Osama bin Laden.
As for the “signature” on my comment, I do not know if you are referring to ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ or ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ. ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ is my nom de blog. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ is a slogan which has recently gained prominence in the ongoing struggle over the Second Amendment. My use of those terms goes back to at least 1972.
I read what you wrote and I have seen the video. I agreed with many of your points but those of us who have been in the military know you can’t release classified information. Regardless of why he did it he was wrong. If he felt he exercised all options and this was what he came up with then he has to pay whatever the price is. I do not feel sorry for him. He is a gay man who had a hissy and betrayed his country.
Big Dog and readers,
This will be the last post I will be making in this thread. I believe you and most of your readers are honorable patriots who have unwittingly been propagandized into accepting the press releases of a leviathan that has during the course of my three score and seventeen years evolved into the direct opposite of what our forefathers intended this great nation to be.
You may or may not be familiar with the author Claire Wolfe whose writings I first encountered a decade ago in “101 Things to Do Until The Revolution”. She writes a blog which I visit on occasion and recently posted this entry on the subject of this thread. She has a way with words which this old Greek seems to have lost. I hope you will take the very few minutes required to read her poignant words and reflect on them.
Additionally, I find it ironic that the leftists who are presently in power insist on shoving down our throats the acceptance of homosexuality while at the same time delight in using the outing of their enemies as a political tool.
By the by; it didn’t take long after Manning’s wikileaks releases embarrassed the harridan Hillary that the full force of Leviathan’s rage swept down upon that hapless soldier:
The diplomatic cables released so far by Wikileaks [via Manning] have offered a trove of salacious details about international relations in Latin America. Hillary Clinton inquired whether Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s president, takes any medication and how she handles her anxieties
Hillary Clinton has questioned the mental health of Cristina Kirchner and asked US diplomats to investigate whether the Argentinian president is taking medication to help her “calm down”.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!