Bradley Manning/Court Martial Bias

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Nahemah
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Bradley Manning/Court Martial Bias

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http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/ar ... e_himself/

"A US soldier accused of giving classified documents to WikiLeaks appeared in court Friday for the first time, with the defense immediately alleging the military hearing is biased.

Bradley Manning, a former intelligence analyst, is accused of downloading 260,000 US diplomatic cables, videos of US air strikes and US military reports from Afghanistan and Iraq between November 2009 and May 2010.

He was serving in Iraq at the time and allegedly transferred the data to WikiLeaks, which then published the documents worldwide on the Internet, in one of the worst breaches ever of US military intelligence..."


Thoughts?

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adawehi
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Re: Bradley Manning/Court Martial Bias

Post by adawehi »

Imho, no one was placed at risk. The only thing that actually happened is our [U..S.] Government was embarrassed due to their own sense of superiority, thus, someone must pay for showing that our elected officials are comprised of human assholes.

On the flip side, what Bradley did may have been somewhat harmless on the surface, he still broke protocol and could have easily placed others in danger, thus, should be held accountable.
"Health and wealth are my birthright, success my tool, kindness my standard."

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Nahemah
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Re: Bradley Manning/Court Martial Bias

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On the flip side, what US Government did may have been somewhat harmless on the surface,but US government still broke protocol and could have easily placed other countries and their governments in danger, thus,US this government should be held accountable.
Quote still works like this,lol.Could aslo easily reference Guantanamo and other issues that are related too. [thumbup]

Sorry,I thought it was open ended so I hit it.

My own opinion,which is a strong one,I must admit,is below.Perhaps I should mention first that I 'm a bit left of centre ,politically speaking?

...Manning acted with conscience,he was concerned about risks to life and safety too and knew he was potentially opening a can of whoop on his own arse by his actions,that much is not disputable..but when authority renders itself illegitimate and a servant of that authority can no longer conscionably uphold that authority despite dire consequences on a personal and direct level,then I judge that person's actions as meaningful and worth the transparency of international interest,visible process and openly fair adjudication under International law.

This is a World issue now,not a National one.
"He lived his words, spoke his own actions and his story and the story of the world ran parallel."

Sartre speaking of Che Guevara.

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adawehi
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Re: Bradley Manning/Court Martial Bias

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I understand the mans concern and situation. I'm ex military so I know how the games are played. One does not have to follow an order or directive when the person knows the order or directive is illegal. I didn't read all the wikileaks releases. I couldn't stay awake long enough to develop an interest because most of what I was finding bored me to tears.

I know what was released on the tabloids. I know some of the orders given were given by some that should themselves be brought up on criminal charges.

Mr. Manning had three sources he could have gone and gotten advisement from. A chaplain, JAG and a private attorney. He chose to bargain with a hacker. That in itself makes me question his train if thought.

Btw, I'm also a tad left of center where our Gov is concerned. I'm not a fan of using foxes as guard dogs around my hen houses.
"Health and wealth are my birthright, success my tool, kindness my standard."

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Nahemah
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Re: Bradley Manning/Court Martial Bias

Post by Nahemah »

I could just as easily have put UK in that quote and it would still be valid and make sense.

I just want to add that my own country's Government has dirty hands and is also mired up to the elbows in this,so it's not an anti US thing for me.

Perhaps when you have major concerns and are on the inside of an organisation,like the Army,then seeking advisement from those also within that group,is not wise,if you are unsure how far the abuse of authority actually runs?

I am not fully conversant with Military law,especially US laws,so can you expand on the private attorney?
"He lived his words, spoke his own actions and his story and the story of the world ran parallel."

Sartre speaking of Che Guevara.

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Re: Bradley Manning/Court Martial Bias

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Well, for what it's worth I did my time in the Canadian Forces too, albeit they were still using flintlocks back then.
I'm also a Leftie, politically and physiologically. So, morally I support what Manning did. However, unless the frickin' guy is a total retard he must have had some sense of the risk he was taking, and the potential consequence under military law.
Those times I personally may have broken military law, I was smart enough to get someone else to do my dirty work so I didn't get caught.
I suspect the trial will be skewed, but I also suspect that Manning and his Attorneys do too. And it will be. The US Military establishment does not like to be publicly humiliated, and they have been.
Personally, I think Manning's fucked despite whatever truth underlies everything.

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adawehi
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Re: Bradley Manning/Court Martial Bias

Post by adawehi »

Nahemah wrote:I could just as easily have put UK in that quote and it would still be valid and make sense.

I just want to add that my own country's Government has dirty hands and is also mired up to the elbows in this,so it's not an anti US thing for me.

Perhaps when you have major concerns and are on the inside of an organisation,like the Army,then seeking advisement from those also within that group,is not wise,if you are unsure how far the abuse of authority actually runs?

I am not fully conversant with Military law,especially US laws,so can you expand on the private attorney?

I did 5 years as a Military Policeman during the Viet Nam War era. A JAG officer is a Military attorney and [theoretically] must follow very similar guidelines as a public attorney does. I short, he isn't compelled to share what he and his client discusses or admits to and offers advice. A private attorney can be hired from the general public to give advice to someone in the military. Not always advisable because military law and civilian law does differ but it is still an option. In this case, elected officials were involved so this situation makes a private/public attorney more of an option.
"Health and wealth are my birthright, success my tool, kindness my standard."

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Re: Bradley Manning/Court Martial Bias

Post by adawehi »

TheSeeker wrote:Well, for what it's worth I did my time in the Canadian Forces too, albeit they were still using flintlocks back then.
I'm also a Leftie, politically and physiologically. So, morally I support what Manning did. However, unless the frickin' guy is a total retard he must have had some sense of the risk he was taking, and the potential consequence under military law.
Those times I personally may have broken military law, I was smart enough to get someone else to do my dirty work so I didn't get caught.
I suspect the trial will be skewed, but I also suspect that Manning and his Attorneys do too. And it will be. The US Military establishment does not like to be publicly humiliated, and they have been.
Personally, I think Manning's fucked despite whatever truth underlies everything.

Morally I also agree with what Mr. Manning did. I also agree he should have been fully aware of the consequences to his actions and wonder why he didn't put about ten minutes thought into what he was doing. If he was offended enough that what he was witnessing dictated he take action, why the hell did he go to a hacker instead of someone with just a tad of authority behind them? If I have some earth shattering news, I don't believe my first thought would be to run out and find some hacker on the other side of the world to share it with.
"Health and wealth are my birthright, success my tool, kindness my standard."

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