Does the Bradley Manning trial set a dangerous precedent?

[aaronleland]

Bradley Manning WikiLeaks trial 'dangerous' for civil liberties ? experts | World news | The Guardian

Two parts of this article that stuck out the most...

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard professor who is considered to be the foremost liberal authority on constitutional law in the US and who taught the subject to President Barack Obama, told the Guardian that the charge could set a worrying precedent. He said: "Charging any individual with the extremely grave offense of 'aiding the enemy' on the basis of nothing beyond the fact that the individual posted leaked information on the web and thereby 'knowingly gave intelligence information' to whoever could gain access to it there, does indeed seem to break dangerous new ground."

And...

Manning's trial, which is slated to last three months, opens against a backdrop of mounting unease about the increasingly aggressive stance the US government is taking against official leakers. The Obama administration has launched six prosecutions under the Espionage Act, twice as many as all previous presidencies combined, of which only Manning's has gone to trial.

Maybe Barack Obama should retake Mr. Tribe's class.

 

[Indofred]

If a man exposed a police murder that had been covered up, he would probably be rewarded.
Expose army murders and you're a traitor.

 

[aaronleland]

I loved Ron Paul's take on the subject.

Ron Paul: Bradley Manning Deserves Nobel Peace Prize More Than Barack Obama - US News and World Report

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is accused of providing an enormous stash of classified government documents to WikiLeaks for publication, deserves a Nobel Peace Prize more than President Barack Obama, according to former Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

"While President Obama was starting and expanding unconstitutional wars overseas, Bradley Manning, whose actions have caused exactly zero deaths, was shining light on the truth behind these wars," the former Republican presidential contender told U.S. News. "It's clear which individual has done more to promote peace."

 

[editec]

I have my doubts about the whole affair.

I think this may have been the largest misinformation campaign in history.

As to Bradley's guilt or innocence?

I keep wondering how this PFC got hold of so many different TYPES of classified information.

This story doesn't pass the sniff test in my opinion.

 

[ba1614]

Stretching his neck would set a fine precedent.

 

[aaronleland]

Stretching his neck would set a fine precedent.

Reporting a crime... now punishable by death....

 

[ba1614]

Stretching his neck would set a fine precedent.

Reporting a crime... now punishable by death....

Traitors can flail at the end of a rope all day long for all I care.

 

[aaronleland]

Stretching his neck would set a fine precedent.

Reporting a crime... now punishable by death....

Traitors can flail at the end of a rope all day long for all I care.

Obama promised a transparent administration. Bradley Manning was just offering a helping hand.

 

[Meathead]

Obviously, not throwing the book at Manning would set the worst precedent possible.

 

[aaronleland]

Leak the name of a CIA agent, and have the President commute your sentence.

Sell arms to Iran, and you won't even be convicted.

Leak information about US war crimes, and spend the rest of your life in a military prison.

God bless America...

 

[Meathead]

Leak the name of a CIA agent, and have the President commute your sentence.

Sell arms to Iran, and you won't even be convicted.

Leak information about US war crimes, and spend the rest of your life in a military prison.

God bless America...

Grow up and stop whining ffs.

 

[JoeB131]

It strikes me that if Manning had leaked information that assisted the enemy in a material way, he is guilty of espinoge.

If he just leaked information that made the Army look bad, then he's a whistleblower. He should still get a bad conduct discharge. The fact the Army has waited 3 years to bring him to trial, long after the last troop left Iraq, tells me they have a weak case.

I do find it amazing that the same people who think that Holder should resign because he tried to follow Congress' instructions as to who was leaking information to the press, think Manning should be hung.

 

[JoeB131]

Leak the name of a CIA agent, and have the President commute your sentence.

Sell arms to Iran, and you won't even be convicted.

Leak information about US war crimes, and spend the rest of your life in a military prison.

God bless America...

Grow up and stop whining ffs.

Why not address his points?

If Ollie North and Scooter Libby get a pass, shouldn't Manning?

 

[Meathead]

Leak the name of a CIA agent, and have the President commute your sentence.

Sell arms to Iran, and you won't even be convicted.

Leak information about US war crimes, and spend the rest of your life in a military prison.

God bless America...

Grow up and stop whining ffs.

Why not address his points?

If Ollie North and Scooter Libby get a pass, shouldn't Manning?

You must have some kind of instinct when it comes to whining.

North and McFarlane did not commit treason.

 

[JoeB131]

Grow up and stop whining ffs.

Why not address his points?

If Ollie North and Scooter Libby get a pass, shouldn't Manning?

You must have some kind of instinct when it comes to whining.

North and McFarlane did not commit treason.

They sold weapons to a regime that sponsors terrorism, took Americans hostage, attacked American shipping in the Persian Gulf.

They then diverted the proceeds of those weapons sales to a terrorist group that was running drugs into the United States during the height of the cocaine epidemic.

it seems you have to have a pretty subjective definition of "treason" to say they didn't commit treason and Manning did.

 

[aaronleland]

It strikes me that if Manning had leaked information that assisted the enemy in a material way, he is guilty of espinoge.

If he just leaked information that made the Army look bad, then he's a whistleblower. He should still get a bad conduct discharge. The fact the Army has waited 3 years to bring him to trial, long after the last troop left Iraq, tells me they have a weak case.

I do find it amazing that the same people who think that Holder should resign because he tried to follow Congress' instructions as to who was leaking information to the press, think Manning should be hung.

From what I understand, the "aiding the enemy" charge stems from the testimony of an anonymous member of Seal Team 6, who claims they found information obtained from Wikileaks during the bin Laden raid. I haven't heard of any instances where any specific information was actually used against our troops though. Manning is guilty of putting classified information out there. For a charge of "aiding the enemy" they should have to prove intent. From what I can tell his only intent was to make the military look bad, not to get them killed.

 

[aaronleland]

Leak the name of a CIA agent, and have the President commute your sentence.

Sell arms to Iran, and you won't even be convicted.

Leak information about US war crimes, and spend the rest of your life in a military prison.

God bless America...

Grow up and stop whining ffs.

Why not address his points?

If Ollie North and Scooter Libby get a pass, shouldn't Manning?

Because that's how "grown ups" dismiss arguments.

 

[Meathead]

Grow up and stop whining ffs.

Why not address his points?

If Ollie North and Scooter Libby get a pass, shouldn't Manning?

Because that's how "grown ups" dismiss arguments.

Arguments are one thing, the petulant whining of children something else. Children whine, that's just part of growing up. When adults or even adolescents do it, it goes beyond mere irritation.

 

[JoeB131]

Why not address his points?

If Ollie North and Scooter Libby get a pass, shouldn't Manning?

Because that's how "grown ups" dismiss arguments.

Arguments are one thing, the petulant whining of children something else. Children whine, that's just part of growing up. When adults or even adolescents do it, it goes beyond mere irritation.

You haven't made an argument yet.

Frankly, most of your arguments involve calling everyone who disagrees with you a communist or some other name.

Even other Wingnuts are embarrassed by you.

 

[aaronleland]

Because that's how "grown ups" dismiss arguments.

Arguments are one thing, the petulant whining of children something else. Children whine, that's just part of growing up. When adults or even adolescents do it, it goes beyond mere irritation.

You haven't made an argument yet.

Frankly, most of your arguments involve calling everyone who disagrees with you a communist or some other name.

Even other Wingnuts are embarrassed by you.

Next time he calls somebody a communist just tell him to grow up, and quit his whining.