Bradley Manning: Hero or Traitor?

[Aquitaine]

Howdy peeps, just wondering what your opinion of Bradley Manning is?
I'd love to get an international perspective on this topic.

 

[esmith]

Manning was, and still is, a member of the United States Armed Forces. He is being charged with violating the UCMJ under the following articles: Article 104, Article 92, and Article 134. Of which one of them carriers the death penalty. Manning knew that he was violating the UCMJ and knew that he would be charged. As far as I am concerned if he is found guilty of Article 104 he deserves the maximum sentence.

 

[Riverwolf]

Whether he's a hero or not remains to be seen, as whether any good will come from the information he leaked will have to surface, first. He's certainly a rebel.

However, the truly treacherous thing to do is to pretend like the American military is all sunshine and lollipops and would never kill civilians. The real traitors are those in the military who make such claims, since they, more than anyone else, hurt America's reputation, turning us not only into bullies, but liars as well.

Technically, Manning is a traitor. But so are those he's trying to expose.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

He was criminally irresponsible.

 

[Sunstone]

Last I heard, the American Government had admitted that none of Manning's actions have resulted in the loss of even a single American life. That doesn't seem to support the charge of treason.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Last I heard, the American Government had admitted that none of Manning's actions have resulted in the loss of even a single American life. That doesn't seem to support the charge of treason.

Nor does it argue against a charge of criminal irresponsibility. Does anyone believe that he had the capacity or desire to properly gage the possible ramification(s) of leaking that material?

 

[methylatedghosts]

I currently have no opinion on Bradley Manning. I have no idea who he is or what he did/didn't.

 

[esmith]

Nor does it argue against a charge of criminal irresponsibility. Does anyone believe that he had the capacity or desire to properly gage the possible ramification(s) of leaking that material?

From: From: 10 USC § 904 - Art. 104. Aiding the enemy | Title 10 - Armed Forces | U.S. Code | LII / Legal Information Institute

Any person who—
(1) aids, or attempts to aid, the enemy with arms, ammunition, supplies, money, or other things; or
(2) without proper authority, knowingly harbors or protects or gives intelligence to, or communicates or corresponds with or holds any intercourse with the enemy, either directly or indirectly;
shall suffer death or such other punishment as a court-martial or military commission may direct. This section does not apply to a military commission established under chapter 47A of this title.

He is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States and from:Bradley Manning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Assigned to an army unit based near Baghdad, Manning had access to databases used by the United States government to transmit classified information.

I had a clearance while in the service and I was made quite aware of what the consequences were for violating security regulations. He wasn't getting what he wanted and, in my opinion, decided that he was going to "get even with the Army". In my opinion he knew exactly what he was doing and knew that there were dire consequences for his actions.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

In my opinion he knew exactly what he was doing and knew that there were dire consequences for his actions.

Maybe. Maybe not. It has no relevance to my question.

 

[dust1n]

Nor does it argue against a charge of criminal irresponsibility. Does anyone believe that he had the capacity or desire to properly gage the possible ramification(s) of leaking that material?

Would anyone?

 

[Father Heathen]

I currently have no opinion on Bradley Manning. I have no idea who he is or what he did/didn't.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Apex]

He broke the law and should be punished. When you are in the military, you do not share classified information, period. If he saw something in that classified info that showed illegal actions, he should have taken up his chain.

Now, as for wikileaks and everyone else looking at that classified info, they have done/are doing no wrong. Once something is released to the public, classified or not, anyone else who gets their hands on that info from a public source should be free from any kind of legal action.

 

[dust1n]

Intentions can be everything. Read his court transcripts. He will probably die as a result of a sincere desire to end audacious wars no one wants and are basically illegal and always have been, wars that failed so miserably and will enslave the next two generations in insufferable government debt, and caused the death of anywhere from 200,000-700,000+ civilians, many kids, and willingness to expose videos proving illegal actions taken on part by American soldiers, that was being covered by the US military. I don't know if was a hero, but he is certainly closer to one then the majority of the US national armed forces and the citizens of this apathetic country who generally don't give two ***** who dies by their own partial funding.

 

[Apex]

Intentions can be everything. Read his court transcripts. He will probably die as a result of a sincere desire to end audacious wars no one wants and are basically illegal and always have been, wars that failed so miserably and will enslave the next two generations in insufferable government debt, and caused the death of anywhere from 200,000-700,000+ civilians, many kids, and willingness to expose videos proving illegal actions taken on part by American soldiers, that was being covered by the US military. I don't know if was a hero, but he is certainly closer to one then the majority of the US national armed forces and the citizens of this apathetic country who generally don't give two ***** who dies by their own partial funding.

I highly doubt he will die because of this. And can you show where his actions did anything to hasten the end of the wars?

 

[dust1n]

I highly doubt he will die because of this. And can you show where his actions did anything to hasten the end of the wars?

No, I didn't say it did, and whether it did or not had nothing to do with what I said.

 

[Aquitaine]

I gotta admit I find it odd how whistle-blowers get punished, but the people responsible for said wars kicking off in the first place, get off the hook.

 

[Alceste]

I gotta admit I find it odd how whistle-blowers get punished, but the people responsible for said wars kicking off in the first place, get off the hook.

I find that odd too. I think he is a decent kid who was trying to do the right thing and following his conscience, and I think he's been punished enough already. I'm in favour of transparency in the government, so I gave a really hard time getting hysterical about somebody leaking government files. Why are they even secret in the first place?

 

[Aquitaine]

I find that odd too. I think he is a decent kid who was trying to do the right thing and following his conscience, and I think he's been punished enough already. I'm in favour of transparency in the government, so I gave a really hard time getting hysterical about somebody leaking government files. Why are they even secret in the first place?

Kind of reminds me of the excuses the Government made for mass CCTV and e-mail/phone databases etc, which pretty-much just boiled down to "If you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to fear".

Well then oki-doki, let's have some of that mentality fired back at the Government plox.

 

[Alceste]

Kind of reminds me of the excuses the Government made for mass CCTV and e-mail/phone databases etc, which pretty-much just boiled down to "If you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to fear".

Well then oki-doki, let's have some of that mentality fired back at the Government plox.

Hear hear! It's only fair!

 

[Valjean]

Idiot
though I'm more sympathetic than condemnatory.

He joined an organization he should have known was no Peace Corps -- stupid.
He violated his oath to that organization -- dishonorable.

But he did bring out some of the brutality and mendacity which, apparently, is standard operating procedure in the US military -- beneficial.