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Bradley Manning Sentenced to 35 Years

G

Galen.Iksnudnard

Active Member
Bradley Manning Sentenced to 35 Years | Alternet

Bradley Manning has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds and thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents to anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, The Guardian reported.

The 25-year-old was convicted of multiple charges of Espionage Act violations for disseminating documents while serving as an Army intelligence officer.
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Do you think the a 35-year jail term is too harsh? He's going to be 60 when he gets out. There are murderers who have served less time than him.

Personally I think the sentence was a bit harsh. 6-12 months in jail would undoubtedly have taught him the lesson. Of course I do understand that in times like these the government might need to make an example of someone, but they could have invariably used Snowden for that.
 
tumbleweed41

tumbleweed41

Resident Liberal Hippie
I would like to see an immediate Presidential pardon, but that would just set the warmongers hollering for an impeachment.
So at least a pardon as Obama leaves office.
 
K

Knight of Albion

Well-Known Member
A long sentence, a lot longer than many rapists or murderers get...

I think he is a misguided individual who may have thought he was acting for the greater good but didn't think through the consequences of his actions.

The other 'whistle blower' hiding out in Moscow will get the same. Mr Putin may for now at least be relishing getting one over the Americans and made to look 'strong' in the eyes of the Russian public, but in the times ahead no doubt the Americans will get hold of 'someone of interest' to the Russians and they'll cut a deal, and then...That's how these things work.
 
Wirey

Wirey

Fartist
sandandfoam said:
This has been widely reported here too. I can't for the life of me see what it has to do with the sentencing.
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Send him to an all male jail and it's party time. They'll eat him alive. This is a way to get preferential treatment, whether it's true or not. Poor guy. Or gal.
 
Tarheeler

Tarheeler

Argumentative Curmudgeon
Premium Member
Galen.Iksnudnard said:
Bradley Manning Sentenced to 35 Years | Alternet



Do you think the a 35-year jail term is too harsh? He's going to be 60 when he gets out. There are murderers who have served less time than him.

Personally I think the sentence was a bit harsh. 6-12 months in jail would undoubtedly have taught him the lesson. Of course I do understand that in times like these the government might need to make an example of someone, but they could have invariably used Snowden for that.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of it has to with the fact that he was an active duty soldier and this was a military court. If he wanted to be treated like a civilian, then he should have waited until he got out to do it.
 
sandandfoam

sandandfoam

Veteran Member
Tarheeler said:
I think a lot of it has to with the fact that he was an active duty soldier and this was a military court. If he wanted to be treated like a civilian, then he should have waited until he got out to do it.
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And Dick Cheney walks about free as a bird.
If I was Manning I'd want to be treated like a politician, not a civilian.
 
Tarheeler

Tarheeler

Argumentative Curmudgeon
Premium Member
sandandfoam said:
And Dick Cheney walks about free as a bird.
If I was Manning I'd want to be treated like a politician, not a civilian.
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:shrug: While justice should be blind, it rarely is.

Manning is screwed because he falls under the UMCJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice), which can be much, much harsher in areas in civilian law. Honestly, it could have been worse; one of his charges, aiding the enemy (UMCJ 104), carries the death penalty.
 
G

Galen.Iksnudnard

Active Member
tumbleweed41 said:
I would like to see an immediate Presidential pardon, but that would just set the warmongers hollering for an impeachment.
So at least a pardon as Obama leaves office.
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Just to inform everyone - Manning has just announced that she wishes to live as a woman, and has changed her name to Chelsea. Wikipedia has already changed her article to reflect the changes, and it would be right and proper to refer to Manning now using the proper pronoun from now on.

I do still think she made a mistake, so there should at least be some sort of discipline, but considering that he's already been imprisoned for 1,293 days (without trial and under very harsh conditions I might ad), I would say she's already paid her debt to society.

Like I said, they could have given Manning a slap on the wrist. That would have been the proper thing to do. Instead they overreached and accused her of aiding and abetting the enemy. It was such an overreach. So much about Manning has the look and feel of a whistleblower and not a spy.

It is clear that Manning might have been suffering from some undue stress due to the homo/trans-phobic environment in the military. Such stress can push anyone to the breaking point, and make them act out in ways they normally wouldn't.
 
Sha'irullah

Sha'irullah

رسول الآلهة
Considering the information he leaked and the atrocity of his abandonment I would say life imprisonment is more fitting or even execution considering his lack of regard for his country and blatant attack upon it.
 
G

Galen.Iksnudnard

Active Member
Sterling Archer said:
Considering the information he leaked and the atrocity of his abandonment I would say life imprisonment is more fitting or even execution considering his lack of regard for his country and blatant attack upon it.
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Here's the way I see it:

Although her actions had unintended bad consequences, they were motivated by the right cause. To expose what she felt was excessive brutality being carried out by the military. Now don't get me wrong I support the war in Iraq to the last bullet, but it still doesn't mean that Manning had the intention to betray his country; she was just motivated by her conscience and I can't really fault a person for that.

Prison isn't going to solve her extreme mental problems, that probably stem from a rough childhood and possibly being harassed in the military. I believe she should get the help she needs. Sure, Manning deserves a sentence, I'm not arguing that but it shouldn't be anything more than a few years, and it should involve a stint in a mental institute where she can begin to undo the trauma related to her personal life.

Besides, a lot of murderers, rapists, and actual spies have gotten far less time than Manning did.

8 Real Spies And Actual Bad Guys Who Got Shorter Sentences Than Bradley Manning

Bradley Manning isn't Snowden. Snowden is malicious, while this guy just went nuts somewhere along the line and did something stupid (although with good intentions). If anyone, it's Snowden who they should be making an example of (for obvious reasons).
 
Shadow Wolf

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Wirey said:
Bradley Manning: 'I am a female' - World - CBC News
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If that is true, she must not really think things through. As far as the United States military in concerned, Cheslea will always be male without any change in policy, and a mtf transsexual in a male prison is not a good thing. She may be able to be isolated from general population, but that's really not that much better as many times (here in America) it means isolated confinement. Her coming out and transitioning, although I understand her desperation, will undoubtedly make her life a living hell.
 
sandandfoam

sandandfoam

Veteran Member
Sterling Archer said:
Considering the information he leaked
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Let's consider some of it
We had the video of civilians in Iraq being murdered by an attack helicopter
she exposed the fact that Egyptian torturers received FBI training in Virginia
She exposed the fact that American officials were instructed to hide evidence of child abuse by contractors in Afghanistan
She leaked the fact that the State Department tried to stop Haiti raising its minimum wage.
These have the character of actions conducted by a repressive dictatorship
I would have thought these were things that people in an open free society should know were being perpetrated in their names.
I believe that bringing these to the attention of that society was an act that contributed to the well being of that society. Because there is somethihng rotten in the above actions.
And you would have her murdered. Absurd.
 
G

Galen.Iksnudnard

Active Member
sandandfoam said:
Let's consider some of it
We had the video of civilians in Iraq being murdered by an attack helicopter
she exposed the fact that Egyptian torturers received FBI training in Virginia
She exposed the fact that American officials were instructed to hide evidence of child abuse by contractors in Afghanistan
She leaked the fact that the State Department tried to stop Haiti raising its minimum wage.
These have the character of actions conducted by a repressive dictatorship
I would have thought these were things that people in an open free society should know were being perpetrated in their names.
I believe that bringing these to the attention of that society was an act that contributed to the well being of that society. Because there is somethihng rotten in the above actions.
And you would have her murdered. Absurd.
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And that's why I say that Manning acted carelessly but not maliciously. They did not compromise national security. Sure they were embarassing, but not harmful.

She released a bunch of documents because he saw within those some things that she thought the people at large should know. Obviously, she did not have time to go though all the documents that got sent to WikiLeaks, and that was the stupid part. They should have been released one by one to ensure that they would not harm national security.

In this situation if the US government should go after anyone they should go after Assange, as without Assange Manning probably would not be leaking information to anyone. Not to mention that Assange is a rapist.
 
Sha'irullah

Sha'irullah

رسول الآلهة
sandandfoam said:
Let's consider some of it
We had the video of civilians in Iraq being murdered by an attack helicopter
she exposed the fact that Egyptian torturers received FBI training in Virginia
She exposed the fact that American officials were instructed to hide evidence of child abuse by contractors in Afghanistan
She leaked the fact that the State Department tried to stop Haiti raising its minimum wage.
These have the character of actions conducted by a repressive dictatorship
I would have thought these were things that people in an open free society should know were being perpetrated in their names.
I believe that bringing these to the attention of that society was an act that contributed to the well being of that society. Because there is somethihng rotten in the above actions.
And you would have her murdered. Absurd.
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And? This is nothing new and does not change the stockpile of beneficial information he released followed by the fact it put a lot of operation on halt till they could sift through what is leaked and it was not small PDF file I can assure you of that.

This is no different then Snowden although Snowden is a traitor to the very end. He released nothing new or secretive at all. The tech community is laughing at the issue to this very day. Snowden is more of a naive idiot.

Manning on the other hand is a true enemy. Nothing else can be said
 
Flankerl

Flankerl

Well-Known Member
Wow what an attention wh***.



Sterling Archer said:
This is no different then Snowden although Snowden is a traitor to the very end. He released nothing new or secretive at all. The tech community is laughing at the issue to this very day. Snowden is more of a naive idiot.
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Thats not true. You should probably read up on the reactions from european countries.
 
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