Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years

[GunnyFreedom]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-to-sentence-bradley-manning-today/2013/08/20/85bee184-09d0-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html



A military judge on Wednesday morning sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.


Manning, 25, was convicted last month of multiple charges, including violations of the Espionage Act for copying and disseminating the documents while serving as an intelligence analyst at a forward operating base in Iraq. He faced up to 90 years in prison.


According to the military, Manning is required to serve one-third of the sentence before he becomes eligible for parole.

[brandon]

EOM

[Christian Liberty]

This is screwed up...

[brandon]

If he gets credit for time served he could be out on parole in 10ish years. Coulda been a lot worse for the poor chap.

[phill4paul]

Didn't see this coming. I woulda bet 60.

[phill4paul]

Less than what I would have thought. I was guessing 60.

[RonPaulFanInGA]

I was guessing 60.

Well, that is the age he'll be getting out of jail.

[donnay]

SMH. Disgusting.

[brandon]

Well, that is the age he'll be getting out of jail.

nah he'll probably be out on parole in his mid 30s. He still has a nice life ahead of him.

[kahless]

He could be out on parole in 10 years or earlier with a pardon.

[RonPaulFanInGA]

SMH. Disgusting.

I don't know. 35 years, eligible for parole in eleven years. About as best as one could have reasonably hoped for in sentencing.

[PSYOP]

My mother thinks he should have gotten life in prison. I am ashamed to be her son right now.

[Christian Liberty]

nah he'll probably be out on parole in his mid 30s. He still has a nice life ahead of him.

I'm not sure he'll have a nice life after all this crap...


He could be out on parole in 10 years or earlier with a pardon.

If we elect President Paul and he doesn't do it, I will seriously lose respect for him. Although he probably won't.

I don't know. 35 years, eligible for parole in eleven years. About as best as one could have reasonably hoped for in sentencing.

For doing GOOD. Our government is a complete violation of Romans 13:4 in every respect. Anyone who seriously thinks our country is still the "good guys" needs to get their head checked.

[Christian Liberty]

My mother thinks he should have gotten life in prison. I am ashamed to be her son right now.

If my parents vocally supported that I might have to disown them:p

My dad was very anti-Assange three years ago, and is relatively pro-Snowden now. I think I've been having an influence on him.

[brandon]

I'm not sure he'll have a nice life after all this crap...


The guy's a folk hero. There will be countless non-profit advocacy and political groups throwing him job offers once he's out. As long as he's not irreparably fucked up from the isolation and torture he's been through, I think he'll be okay.

[KEEF]

Didn't see this coming. I woulda bet 60.

Yeah I was really expecting them to thrown every year at him that they possibly could. Maybe even do this to him (except without the parachute)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a35oXueasbE

[RonPaulFanInGA]

The guy's a folk hero. There will be countless non-profit advocacy and political groups throwing him job offers once he's out. As long as he's not irreparably fucked up from the isolation and torture he's been through, I think he'll be okay.

"Assuming Manning ends up serving 80% of his sentence as usual in federal cases, he’ll be eligible for parole in 2041, when he’s 53 years old."

[tod evans]

If he gets credit for time served he could be out on parole in 10ish years. Coulda been a lot worse for the poor chap.

85% fed time, the remainder is served in a halfway house.

There's no way in hell they'll let him go in 10yrs.

If Mr.Manning is to be freed before he's 50+ it'll be by jailbreak..

[JK/SEA]

//

[pcosmar]

http://myvfw.org/mo/dist6/files/2012/08/POW-MIA-Emblem4.jpg

[Christian Liberty]

Something tells me they won't give him parole...

[JK/SEA]

so, with 4 years reduced for time served, he will be eligible for parole in 6 years....is that a close assessment?

[tod evans]

so, with 4 years reduced for time served, he will be eligible for parole in 6 years....is that a close assessment?

Cut-n-paste from Brandons thread;


85% fed time, the remainder is served in a halfway house.

There's no way in hell they'll let him go in 10yrs.

If Mr.Manning is to be freed before he's 50+ it'll be by jailbreak..

[Xenliad]

It would be nice to see him pardoned. The jail break idea is a fun fantasy, maybe make a movie out of it and show him in a positive light and being tortured first.


My mother thinks he should have gotten life in prison. I am ashamed to be her son right now.

Did you say that to her face?

[donnay]

I don't know. 35 years, eligible for parole in eleven years. About as best as one could have reasonably hoped for in sentencing.


Any time he has to serve is wrong. He took an oath to defend the Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic. [emphasis]

He did and he was punished--the message being sent is do not go against the MIC.

[economics102]

He should have been free -3.5 years ago, but this is a surprisingly light sentence Even without parole, he'd be free at the latest when he's 56. Which is a horrible travesty, but still surprising.

If he actually serves the full sentence, it will mean that we all failed and the United States continued its descent into tyranny, as any just government would either pardon him (and throw him a parade) or at least grant him early parole. Bradley Manning's fate is thus tied to our own.

[AuH20]

Any time he has to serve is wrong. He took an oath to defend the Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic. [emphasis]

He did and he was punished--the message being sent is do not go against the MIC.

Has he ever stated what his motivations were? Snowden basically left no interpretation why he took the terrabytes of classified data. There hasn't been much to Manning in that regard.

[fr33]

Today is a good day to burn a flag.

[AuH20]

Did Mannning want to get caught? Did he have a martyr complex? This guy doesn't deserve jailtime but rather some therapy.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/08/portrait-mind-bradley-manning/68341/


The last produced the most arresting evidence. In an April 24, 2010 email to his supervisor at the time, Master Sgt. Paul Adkins, Manning confessed he was transgender, and that he joined the Army, basically, to "get rid of it." He included this selfie, in which he's dressed as a female with long blonde hair. The subject line was "My Problem." The email said,

This is my problem. I’ve had signs of it for a very long time. It’s caused problems within my family. I thought a career in the military would get rid of it. It’s not something I seek out for attention, and I’ve been trying very, very hard to get rid of it by placing myself in situations where it would be impossible. But, it’s not going away; it’s haunting me more and more as I get older. Now, the consequences of it are dire, at a time when it’s causing me great pain it itself…

I don't know what to do anymore, and the only "help" that seems available is severe punishment and/or getting rid of me.

[tod evans]

Today is a good day to burn a flag.

The people in charge now don't represent my flag!

I'm not against the country/it's people or its flag, I am however, strongly opposed to its current government.

[Christian Liberty]

Today is a good day to burn a flag.

Yeah, this is the kind of thing that makes me roll my eyes a little bit (Even though I understand completely why they do it, don't misunderstand) when Rand Paul or Lee Bright says "No money to countries that burn our flag." Who the crap cares if they burn our flag?

I'm ashamed that there's still one in our church. We should light it on fire and replace it with the original 13 star flag, if anything.

[donnay]

Has he ever stated what his motivations were? Snowden basically left no interpretation why he took the terrabytes of classified data. There hasn't been much to Manning in that regard.

Considering what he exposed was horrendous acts our troops have done, I would say when he saw that he felt the need to report such horrendous acts.

Let's face it when that footage was shown the MIC was scrambling to shut it down. If they have nothing to hide... just sayin'.

[Christian Liberty]

Considering what he expose was horrendous acts our troops have done, I would say when he saw that he felt the need to report such horrendous acts.

Let's face it when that footage was shown the MIC was scrambling to shut it down. If they have nothing to hide... just sayin'.

But... "You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide" only applies to regular peons.

Get in line, citizen!

(Lame attempt to impersonate AF. +rep.)

[AuH20]

Considering what he expose was horrendous acts our troops have done, I would say when he saw that he felt the need to report such horrendous acts.

Let's face it when that footage was shown the MIC was scrambling to shut it down. If they have nothing to hide... just sayin'.

Sometimes you need an unstable cuckoo bird to expose criminal activity. That's how I view Manning. At most, he should have gotten a year for violating the UCMJ, but this absurd sentence is simply being used as a deterrent to others.

[limequat]

Well compare that to how much time Ellsburg spent in jail.

[Christian Liberty]

Sometimes you need an unstable cuckoo bird to expose criminal activity. That's how I view Manning. At most, he should have gotten a year for violating the UCMJ, but this absurd sentence is simply being used as a deterrent to others.

Would you have sentenced him to a year?

[AuH20]

Would you have sentenced him to a year?

Yes. Just for knowingly violating the UCMJ contract. Forget about the data dump and all the state secret nonsense.

[Christian Liberty]

Yes. Just for violating the UCMJ. Forget about the data dump and all the state secret nonsense.

What is the UCMJ, exactly?

And how did he violate it?

And didn't he already serve more than a year anyway?

[AuH20]

What is the UCMJ, exactly?

Uniform Code of Military Justice which is immediately activated upon the oath of enlistment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Code_of_Military_Justice


And how did he violate it?

Individual members are not given the discretion to release classified data to non-affiliated personnel, no matter how onerous it may be. The military code is predicated on a hive mind mentality in which each "part" is codependent on the compliancy of each other.

And didn't he already serve more than a year anyway?

Good point.

[Lucille]

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/mccarthy/bradley-manning-gets-35-years/


That’s well short of the 60 years the prosecution had asked for. As USA Today points out, “He would probably be eligible for parole after he served one-third or 10 years of his sentence, whichever is longer.”

It’s about all Manning and his defense could realistically have hoped for. (His attorneys asked for 25 years.) What Manning needs now is another Warren G. Harding, who commuted the prison sentence Woodrow Wilson inflicted on antiwar socialist Eugene V. Debs for urging resistance to the draft during wartime. Harding, who subsequently invited Debs to the White House, didn’t sympathize with the dissenter’s views—”He is a man of much personal charm and impressive personality, which qualifications make him a dangerous man calculated to mislead the unthinking and affording excuse for those with criminal intent,” the president said—but he had a sense of proportion and the courage to act on it, virtues our leaders today tend to eschew in favor of Wilsonian intransigence.

[Christian Liberty]

Uniform Code of Military Justice which is immediately activated upon the oath of enlistment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Code_of_Military_Justice


And how did he violate it?

Individual members are not given the discretion to release classified data to non-affiliated personnel, no matter how onerous it may be. The military code is predicated on a hive mind mentality in which each "part" is codependent on the compliancy of each other.

And didn't he already serve more than a year anyway?

Good point.

Fair enough.

I recognize that there was no realistic way he was getting out of that, but I still don't "support" any of it. I believe what Manning did was justified, regardless of his motivations.

[AuH20]

Fair enough.

I recognize that there was no realistic way he was getting out of that, but I still don't "support" any of it. I believe what Manning did was justified, regardless of his motivations.

As an outsider or civilian, you don't have to support it, but it's made abundantly clear when you enlist and essentially "finalize" the contract.


"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

[Christian Liberty]

As an outsider or civilian, you don't have to support it, but it's made abundantly clear when you enlist and essentially "finalize" the contract.

"Against all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC" seems clear to me.

That said, I don't believe anyone should join the imperial military either.

[Contumacious]

The people in charge now don't represent my flag!

I'm not against the country/it's people or its flag, I am however, strongly opposed to its current government.

Remember folks, we are being governed by a continuing criminal enterprise - impostors - so:

1- do not announce your intentions on US soil

2- get at least 2 passports

3- upload documents from a friendly foreign government

4- do not believe for a second that you will receive judicial review by an Article III Judge - the federal bench has been reduced to a cabinet level administrative agency

5- we are on our own folks

[AFPVet]

I agree with the consensus that he will be out in 10 with parole... could've been much worse.

[AuH20]

"Against all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC" seems clear to me.

That said, I don't believe anyone should join the imperial military either.

Some within the military take the approach that the former supersedes the latter, while others adhere to the opposite, the UCMJ > U.S. Constitution. It depends who you talk to. The officers are generally more brainwashed in that regard. My contention is that you can't have every individual in the military making personal decisions on a littany of subject matter or the unit cohesion and execution that typifies this field would simply grind the organization to a halt. That was the INTENT of the UCMJ but it is certainly abused.

[tod evans]

I agree with the consensus that he will be out in 10 with parole... could've been much worse.

Don't believe what I typed?

Read this;

http://www.famm.org/Repository/Files/FINAL_Good_Time_FAQs_10.21.08%5B1%5D.pdf

[AFPVet]

Some within the military take the approach that the former supersedes the latter, while others adhere to the opposite, the UCMJ > U.S. Constitution. It depends who you talk to.

The UCMJ is the oldest rule of law which was based on the U.S. Constitution; however, the Constitution is still the supreme law of the land... superseding even the UCMJ. The problem is that once you sign those papers, you give up many of your constitutional rights. You still have Article 31 rights (remaining silent/legal counsel...), but many of your constitutional rights are waived upon entry. The same goes for commissioned officers—but they have more rights along with greater responsibilities.

[AFPVet]

Don't believe what I typed?

Read this;

http://www.famm.org/Repository/Files/FINAL_Good_Time_FAQs_10.21.08%5B1%5D.pdf

Good time is one thing... the parole board is another. It's entirely up to the parole board.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/21/20118798-manning-gets-35-years-in-prison-for-massive-leak-of-us-secrets?lite


By Courtney Kube, Jim Miklaszewski and Erin McClam, NBC News

FORT MEADE, Md. — Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier who leaked hundreds of thousands of secret government documents, was sentenced by a military judge Wednesday to 35 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.

The sentence was imposed by Army Col. Denise Lind in a courtroom here. Manning will be eligible for parole and could be out in a little more than a decade.

Lind ordered Manning be given a reduction in rank, and that he forfeit all military pay and benefits.

The judge had already ordered that the three and a half years Manning has spent in custody be applied to his sentence. That credit and good behavior could cut Manning’s prison time dramatically.
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Manning, 25, a former Army intelligence analyst, has said he was disillusioned by an American foreign policy bent on “killing and capturing people” when he released the documents, including battlefield reports and diplomatic cables, to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks in 2010.

Manning had no visible reaction to the decision, and there were no audible outbursts by the 45 members of the public inside the court. After the judge left the courtroom, guards quickly ushered Manning out of the courtroom as a handful of supporters began yelling.

They yelled, “You’re our hero!” and “We’ll keep fighting for you, Bradley!”

In Wales, Susan Manning, Bradley Manning’s mother, cried out and ran from the room when she heard the sentence, according to NBC News correspondent Keir Simmons, who was with the family. Manning’s uncle Kevin Fox called him a hero.

His case will go for an automatic appeal in the next six months. An organization of Manning’s supporters also issued a public call for a presidential pardon and called the sentence an outrage that “seeks to instill a chilling effect on those who’d dare to expose the United States’ illegality.”

In closing arguments in the sentencing phase of the court-martial, military prosecutors had argued that Manning should get 60 years in prison, citing the value of deterring similar leaks in the future.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

U.S. soldier Bradley Manning is escorted into court to receive his sentence Wednesday at Fort Meade, Md.

“He betrayed the United States,” said Capt. Joe Morrow, a military prosecutor.

Manning’s lawyers had argued that the judge should not “rob him of his youth,” and that, while he might have been geeky and naïve, he was caring and compassionate and capable of redemption.

Military prosecutors said Manning was not a whistle-blower but a traitor. They said Manning knew that enemies of the United States use WikiLeaks as a resource, and they said some of the documents he released wound up in the hands of al Qaeda.

Manning has been jailed at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., since April 2011 and was at the military prison in Quantico, Va., for nine months before that.

He will get credit for 1,294 days already served, or roughly three and a half years. The credit includes 112 days that Lind granted him for mistreatment during his detention at the military brig at Quantico.

Manning was convicted in July of 20 specifications, the equivalent of criminal counts in a civilian court, including seven that dealt with espionage and others that dealt with theft.

The judge, not a jury, determined the verdict. Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, which could have landed him in prison for life.

After the verdict, Manning was facing as much as 136 years in prison, but Lind ruled Aug. 6 that several specifications were redundant for purposes of sentencing, reducing his maximum sentence to 90 years.

Manning pleaded guilty in February to 10 lesser specifications, but prosecutors pressed on with the more serious charges.

Earlier this month, Manning apologized in court for his actions and said he was sorry for hurting the United States.
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“When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people. The last few years have been a learning experience,” he said.

Army medical officials who treated him in Iraq also testified that he had a troubled childhood, struggled mightily with gender confusion, and was seen during basic training for “tantrum fits of rage” that grew worse with stress.

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has said Manning’s conviction is a violation of the First Amendment. He has called Manning a hero and the greatest journalistic source the world has known, saying he uncovered war crimes in Iraq.

Among Manning’s other defenders is Daniel Ellsberg, who in 1971 leaked what become known as the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times. Those papers showed that the government systematically misled the public about U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Jim Miklaszewski reported from the Pentagon, and Erin McClam reported from New York.

[Contumacious]

Some within the military take the approach that the former supersedes the latter, while others adhere to the opposite, the UCMJ > U.S. Constitution. It depends who you talk to. The officers are generally more brainwashed in that regard. My contention is that you can't have every individual in the military making personal decisions on a littany of subject matter or the unit cohesion and execution that typifies this field would simply grind the organization to a halt. That was the INTENT of the UCMJ but it is certainly abused.

Bullshit.


Nuremberg Principles (http://www.tomjoad.org/nuremberg.htm)

.

Individuals have International Duties which Transcend National Obligations of Obedience

[Lucille]

"In no case shall information be classified… in order to: conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency… or prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of the national security."

—Executive Order 13526, Sec. 1.7. Classification Prohibitions and Limitations (http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/what-did-wikileaks-reveal)

“Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is this awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest.”
—Robert Gates, Unites States Secretary of Defense

[tod evans]

Good time is one thing... the parole board is another. It's entirely up to the parole board.

]

I stand corrected..

Apparently military prisoners are afforded the chance to parole out whereas their civilian counterparts held in federal facilities are not.

http://arba.army.pentagon.mil/Clemency-Parole.cfm

[69360]

It's better than I expected, but still excessive. I think Manning's heart was in the right place, but he did need to serve some time for violating the UCMJ and I think the information released should have been gone through before release to ensure nobody's life was endangered by it. I don't think he is a traitor, just was a little naive. If I was the judge I would have given him time served and a discharge.

[surf]

he's a hero. 'nuff said.

[Barrex]

BAD.

[jmdrake]

If he gets credit for time served he could be out on parole in 10ish years. Coulda been a lot worse for the poor chap.

Does he get that in the military penal system?

[jmdrake]

"In no case shall information be classified… in order to: conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency… or prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of the national security."

—Executive Order 13526, Sec. 1.7. Classification Prohibitions and Limitations (http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/what-did-wikileaks-reveal)

“Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is this awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest.”
—Robert Gates, Unites States Secretary of Defense


It's better than I expected, but still excessive. I think Manning's heart was in the right place, but he did need to serve some time for violating the UCMJ and I think the information released should have been gone through before release to ensure nobody's life was endangered by it. I don't think he is a traitor, just was a little naive. If I was the judge I would have given him time served and a discharge.

I stand with Lucille. 69360, what evidence do you have that anybody's life has been put in danger? Because I've seen none. The government has so far alleged none. Sorry but I'm running out of patience with the "Somebody somewhere might have had his life endanger" argument.

[jmdrake]

As an outsider or civilian, you don't have to support it, but it's made abundantly clear when you enlist and essentially "finalize" the contract.

While that "contract" was ultimately to the United States, not the U.S. military. And the government of the United States is supposed to be of, by and for the people of the United States. And as one of those people I find the "He violated the UCMJ" argument disgusting. That information should have come out. The people who should be facing 30 years are the slime that killed those kids from inside that helicopter. Fog of war my ass.

[jmdrake]

Some within the military take the approach that the former supersedes the latter, while others adhere to the opposite, the UCMJ > U.S. Constitution. It depends who you talk to. The officers are generally more brainwashed in that regard. My contention is that you can't have every individual in the military making personal decisions on a littany of subject matter or the unit cohesion and execution that typifies this field would simply grind the organization to a halt. That was the INTENT of the UCMJ but it is certainly abused.

And ^this is why Thomas Jefferson said: "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." My point? That Jefferson assumed his listeners already understood the danger to liberty a standing army entails. The idea that the constitution is somehow subservient to the constitution is an abomination to the principles of liberty.

[jmdrake]

I agree with the consensus that he will be out in 10 with parole... could've been much worse.

I know he can't say it now, but I sincerely hope that a president Rand Paul will grant a pardon, at least before finishing his second term.

[Lucille]

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-08-21/congratulations-fuhrer

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7315/9564856618_1fd26e2fa5_b.jpg

[dannno]

Page Not Found

That is a great poster, though.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

do military trials actually have a jury? Is so they convicted this man?

[dannno]

do military trials actually have a jury? Is so they convicted this man?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/9901659/WikiLeaks-why-has-Bradley-Manning-turned-down-a-jury-trial.html

WikiLeaks: why has Bradley Manning turned down a jury trial?


The answer may be that a tough judge is still a better option than a military jury picked from a pool of serving soldiers that widely considers Manning to be a traitor.

[JK/SEA]

Commit war crimes, spend zero years in prison.

Expose war crimes, spend 35 years in prison.

Anyone else see anything wrong with this?

I still think he'll be out in less than 7 years....but still.....outrageous...

[Christian Liberty]

Commit war crimes, spend zero years in prison.

Expose war crimes, spend 35 years in prison.

Anyone else see anything wrong with this?

I still think he'll be out in less than 7 years....but still.....outrageous...

I think all of us do...

[BarryDonegan]

I wrote a blog on Bradley Manning's sentence today, noting the lower sentences received by others for more serious crimes.

http://silverunderground.com/2013/08/bradley-manning-gets-35-years-will-file-request-for-pardon/

[Peace&Freedom]

The Manning judge has just elected Rand Paul President in 2016, should Rand promise he will pardon him on his first day in office.

[surf]

35 years and he had to apologize for being a hero.

[BenIsForRon]

A sad day for America. They're trying to make an example out of him.

[KEEF]

Good time is one thing... the parole board is another. It's entirely up to the parole board.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/21/20118798-manning-gets-35-years-in-prison-for-massive-leak-of-us-secrets?lite


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtwXlIwozog

[anaconda]

Let the citizens' blow back begin. He'll be out in less than 8.

[Icymudpuppy]

Anybody know where he's being held?

[69360]

I guess he ends up in Levenworth KS

[Anti Federalist]

Just another "political" off to the gulag.

While the torturers go free.

Ignorance is Strength.

[Christian Liberty]

The Manning judge has just elected Rand Paul President in 2016, should Rand promise he will pardon him on his first day in office.

I don't think that will work. Too many stupid Americans.


35 years and he had to apologize for being a hero.

That was probably coerced via torture.


Anybody know where he's being held?

Anyone know any way to take Michael Scofield out of "Prison Break"?:p

Just another "political" off to the gulag.

While the torturers go free.

Ignorance is Strength.

Freedom is slavery.

They locked up Bradley Manning for our freedom (slavery.)

[Saint Vitus]

If president Rand is worth his salt, then pardoning Manning will be on his day 1 agenda.

Call me a single issue voter, but I will not support a candidate who is on the wrong side of this issue.

[Icymudpuppy]

I guess he ends up in Levenworth KS

That's as good a guess as any, but I want to KNOW.

[Christian Liberty]

If president Rand is worth his salt, then pardoning Manning will be on his day 1 agenda.

Call me a single issue voter, but I will not support a candidate who is on the wrong side of this issue.

Then you shouldn't support Rand, he has "little sympathy."

That said, I do support Rand, despite his absolutely retarded and moronic stance on this issue.

[better-dead-than-fed]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/9901659/WikiLeaks-why-has-Bradley-Manning-turned-down-a-jury-trial.html

WikiLeaks: why has Bradley Manning turned down a jury trial?

Without a public a trial, there can be no pretense that justice is being administered.

[Saint Vitus]

well I have a lot of sympathy for Manning. I remember showing my high school students the video of "Collateral Murder", that he helped leak. That was probably the single most powerful video or lesson that I showed my class in 9+ years of teaching. It countered everything they heard from Army recruiters, Facebook, movies, media, etc. It showed cold blooded murder perpetuated by the United States, done by evil, laughing, cold-blooded, murderers done in our name. I imagine that those sickos in that helicopter were not any better than those teens that gunned down that Australian man in Duncan, Oklahoma. Bunch of sick murdering fucks. Meanwhile, a true hero like Manning will be in the closest thing to hell as possible on earth for the next 35 years.

[bolil]

That's as good a guess as any, but I want to KNOW.

According to Wiki it is going to be at Leavenworth. Let me know, if you know what I mean.

[Philhelm]

The guy's a folk hero. There will be countless non-profit advocacy and political groups throwing him job offers once he's out. As long as he's not irreparably fucked up from the isolation and torture he's been through, I think he'll be okay.

Who would be okay after ten or more years in prison?

[bolil]

Who would be okay after ten or more years in prison?


If he serves the full ten, who knows the future is filled with shit we cannot expect but should anticipate anyways. Whenever he is freed, and by whatever means, as long as I have a place to live and food to eat he will have the same.

Ten more years, a decade, jeez all for exposing crime. At least that is what I am told, I tried to dl the leaks but in doing so contracted a NASTY virus. I would like an email copy if anyone can pm me and we can work it out.

[Philhelm]

If president Rand is worth his salt, then pardoning Manning will be on his day 1 agenda.

Call me a single issue voter, but I will not support a candidate who is on the wrong side of this issue.

If I were president, pardons would be my very first order of business.

[fr33]

If president Rand is worth his salt, then pardoning Manning will be on his day 1 agenda.

Call me a single issue voter, but I will not support a candidate who is on the wrong side of this issue.
I'll be one of those lobbying him about it from day 1 of his presidency.

[Philhelm]

If he serves the full ten, who knows the future is filled with shit we cannot expect but should anticipate anyways. Whenever he is freed, and by whatever means, as long as I have a place to live and food to eat he will have the same.

I meant psychologically. He will lose the best years of his life.

[better-dead-than-fed]

I meant psychologically.

They are inviting him to take out a bunch of government employees when he gets out. This is the downside to tyranny.

[kcchiefs6465]

The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth is a disturbing read if someone wants to see what life is like there. In particular look at the case of Thomas Silverstein.

Lights on 24/7, phones left ringing off the hook, restriction of any and all contact, cold showers, restriction of pencils and art supplies, of books and newspapers. He will probably be on suicide watch and woken up every time he falls asleep.

Gladiator school too. It wouldn't surprise me if something happened to him. Guards have been known to put prisoners next to other prisoners who dislike each other. How some people go in for a burglary and never leave. Manning most likely will be segregated though. Hopefully he is treated alright.

[Christian Liberty]

The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth is a disturbing read if someone wants to see what life is like there. In particular look at the case of Thomas Silverstein.

Lights on 24/7, phones left ringing off the hook, restriction of any and all contact, cold showers, restriction of pencils and art supplies, of books and newspapers. He will probably be on suicide watch and woken up every time he falls asleep.

Gladiator school too. It wouldn't surprise me if something happened to him. Guards have been known to put prisoners next to other prisoners who dislike each other. How some people go in for a burglary and never leave. Manning most likely will be segregated though. Hopefully he is treated alright.

And this isn't torture because?

This should help some of you who are still in the beltway to understand why I sympathize with (Note: I do not ADVOCATE to be clear) assassins, and want to see a modern secession movement ASAP.

[bolil]

I meant psychologically. He will lose the best years of his life.

I guess I am hoping, perhaps naively, that he will not serve the full ten. That he will serve no more than one month more than he already has.

I don't see how an assassin could do anything to help Bradly Manning... Que?

[kcchiefs6465]

And this isn't torture because?

Manning was kept under similar conditions already for over 1,000 days. When people say he was tortured they aren't speculating and that is what they are referring to.

I remember a couple times you mentioned you think he might have been tortured; he was. Solitary confinement for a couple weeks would have the average person delusional. Especially when they check every fifteen minutes to make sure you are alive.

Ten years is ten years anywhere. Leavenworth is notoriously brutal. Non-violent offenders being put with rapists and murderers and when they kill one of them they are sentenced to life. Pete Earley interviewed a few who fell in that category. The guards couldn't care less antagonizing and exercising petty control over people. Slave labor aside.

I know this thread is about Manning but this does relate. Our justice system is flawed, our prison systems are broken. It isn't about rehabilitation or restitution. It's about brutality and punishment. That Manning is serving any time is a disgrace but that he is put in probably the second worst prison in America (next to Marion) is ridiculous.

ETA: And he isn't getting out in ten years. They'll deny his parole a couple times, I bet. Unless we can get a campaign of millions of people writing letters and lobbying for him.

[69360]

If president Rand is worth his salt, then pardoning Manning will be on his day 1 agenda.

Call me a single issue voter, but I will not support a candidate who is on the wrong side of this issue.

I don't think that is politically viable. Last day, sure.

[CPUd]

Solitary confinement can do permanent psychological damage to a person. They are supposed get evaluated by psych after so many days. Whether or not it actually happens depends on the institution, but there will be a report filed that says it happened

[kcchiefs6465]

Solitary confinement can do permanent psychological damage to a person. They are supposed get evaluated by psych after so many days. Whether or not it actually happens depends on the institution, but there will be a report filed that says it happened
Just from the 1,000+ days pretty much kept from any contact whatsoever and deprived of sleep he'll probably have conversations with himself for life.

[better-dead-than-fed]

They are supposed get evaluated by psych

That is like getting a crime-evaluation from a police officer.

[susano]

Did Mannning want to get caught? Did he have a martyr complex? This guy doesn't deserve jailtime but rather some therapy.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/08/portrait-mind-bradley-manning/68341/


OMG, that is so sad :(

Still, though, that Adrian guy snitched on him. The coward is in hiding, I think.

[susano]

Solitary confinement can do permanent psychological damage to a person. They are supposed get evaluated by psych after so many days. Whether or not it actually happens depends on the institution, but there will be a report filed that says it happened

It should be legally classified as torture, because it is.

[susano]

well I have a lot of sympathy for Manning. I remember showing my high school students the video of "Collateral Murder", that he helped leak. That was probably the single most powerful video or lesson that I showed my class in 9+ years of teaching. It countered everything they heard from Army recruiters, Facebook, movies, media, etc. It showed cold blooded murder perpetuated by the United States, done by evil, laughing, cold-blooded, murderers done in our name. I imagine that those sickos in that helicopter were not any better than those teens that gunned down that Australian man in Duncan, Oklahoma. Bunch of sick murdering fucks. Meanwhile, a true hero like Manning will be in the closest thing to hell as possible on earth for the next 35 years.

That's awesome that you showed that to your students.

[Feeding the Abscess]

Has he ever stated what his motivations were? Snowden basically left no interpretation why he took the terrabytes of classified data. There hasn't been much to Manning in that regard.

http://www.salon.com/2011/07/04/manning_11/


The highly edited chat logs (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/wikileaks-chat/) purportedly between Manning and Lamo and previously published by long-time Lamo associate Kevin Poulsen of Wired already made clear why Manning — if the chat logs are to be believed — leaked these videos and documents. In those chat logs, Manning described his growing realization of the evil of the the war in Iraq of which he was a part; he specifically recounted that his discovery that Iraqi “insurgents” rounded up and arrested by U.S. forces were actually guilty of nothing was explicitly ignored; and he explained that the documents he is alleged to have leaked revealed systematic deceit, illegality and exploitation on the part of the U.S. Government and its allied governments, and that only disclosure and transparency could trigger urgently needed reforms. As Manning put it in those purported chats with Lamo when asked what he hoped to achieve:

hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms – if not, than [sic] we’re doomed – as a species – i will officially give up on the society we have if nothing happens – the reaction to the [Collateral Murder] video gave me immense hope; CNN’s iReport was overwhelmed; Twitter exploded – people who saw, knew there was something wrong . . . Washington Post sat on the video… David Finkel acquired a copy while embedded out here. . . . – i want people to see the truth… regardless of who they are… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.

...



For Manning, nothing was okay. In *October 2009, he arrived at Forward *Operating Base Hammer, a dusty back*water 40 miles from Baghdad. . . . Usually, there was a large central TV screen where an analyst could watch the war play in endless loop. You could zoom in on the raw footage from helicopters or even helmet cams. At times it felt like watching nonstop snuff films. . . .

An intel analyst sat at his work station and targeted the enemy, reducing a human being to a few salient points. Then he made a quick decision based on imperfect information: kill, capture, exploit, source. Any illusions Manning had about saving lives quickly vanished. At one point, he went to a superior with what he believed to be a mistake. The Iraqi *Federal Police had rounded up innocent people, he said. Get back to work, he was told. . . .

He told the counselor about a targeting mission gone bad in Basra. “Two groups of locals were converging in this one area. Manning was trying to figure out why they were meeting,” the counselor told me. On Manning’s information, the Army moved swiftly, *dispatching a unit to hunt them down. Manning had thought all went well, until a superior explained the outcome. “Ultimately, some guy loosely connected to the group got killed,” the counselor said. To the counselor, it was clear: Manning felt that there was blood on his hands. “He was very, very distressed.”

About that time, Manning later *explained, “everything started slipping.” Manning, it turned out, wasn’t built for this kind of war. “i was a *part* of something … i was actively involved in something that i was completely against.” The job wore down lots of soldiers. Some survived by becoming desensitized — the blood and death goes right past them. Manning took it personally. According to the government, it was in November 2009, the same month that he reached out to the gender counselor, that *Manning began to work with WikiLeaks’ *Julian *Assange, “a candidate for the most dangerous man in the world,” as Daniel *Ellsberg, leaker of the Pentagon papers, later put it.

[DamianTV]

Ron was right: Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies.

[Feeding the Abscess]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152623170946686&set=a.10150115112081686.277590.6233046685&type=1&theater

By the way, RPC needs to hire Eduardo to clip segments of Ron's shows for relevant topics of the day, like this one. It'd leave most of the material behind the paywall, but give people a peek into what the show is all about and get his name in the ether.

[CPUd]

This will be front page everywhere in a few hrs:



Bradley Manning wants to live as a woman


(CNN) -- WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning intends to begin hormone therapy for gender reassignment and live the rest of his life as a woman, according to a statement from him read on NBC's "Today" show Thursday.

Manning wants to be referred to as Chelsea -- not Bradley -- according to the statement.

Manning's announcement comes a day after a military judge sentenced him to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of U.S. military and diplomatic documents.

Manning, 25, was convicted in July of stealing 750,000 pages of classified documents and videos and disseminating them to WikiLeaks, the online anti-secrecy group. Lind also reduced his rank from private first class to private, ordered him to forfeit pay and benefits and be dishonorably discharged.

[CaptUSA]

This will be front page everywhere in a few hrs:Yeah, I saw that, too. Oh, what the hell is happening?!

[better-dead-than-fed]

What Chelsea Manning Revealed (http://gregmitchellwriter.blogspot.com/2013/06/as-debate-continues-what-manning.html)

[nbruno322]

I found this comment worth re-posting here. Its the top user rated comment on the article below:

"I couldn't help but notice the juxtaposition of today's two headline articles: Hosni Mubarak about to be released from custody after little more than 2 years, Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison. The man who headed a repressive, murderous dictatorship for 30 years is set free, while the whistleblower who inspired the very uprising against him is harshly punished. The timing is remarkable, the irony absolutely stunning."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/us/manning-sentenced-for-leaking-government-secrets.html?_r=0#commentsContainer

[dillo]

I wonder what his motivations for getting gender change are? Does he get to go somewhere other than leavenworth if he gets a sex change? Maybe the military told him how hes going to get raped and brutalized for the rest of his life?