PFC Bradley Manning is the soldier who leaked thousands of military classified documents to Wikileaks. He has been found guilty of violating the Espionage Act by a military judge at his court-martial. He could be sentenced to 136 years. What do you think he should get as punishment for his actions which he claims was nothing more than whistle blowing?
Well seeing as how they also found him not guilty of aiding the enemy, it's a hard call. Sure some will say what he did was completely wrong, but if it was really just a large scale whistle blowing deal was it for the best? Same goes for the latest guy, Snowden of whatever his name is, had he not leaked what he did no one would have had proof our government was overstepping it's boundries against it's own citizens. The hard call comes when we have to decide weather these people leaking information to the world & US public are doing it for the better of the country in the long run & hoping to expose corruption or if they are doing it to hurt the country. If it only hurts Washington's image & politicians who are lying & covering things up I say it's a good thing. If it's done with malice towards the nation & what it stands for with the intent of causing damage then they deserve whatever the courts give them. It's a hard line to tiptoe for sure.
Guilty is guilty. He should be glad. In the past, those found guilty of espionage were given the death penalty. He should spen the rest of his natural life in Leavenworth.
He was however found guilty of espionage. Was it whistleblowing when he released classified information on the death of civilians? Civilians have died in every war that has ever happened in history. America tries to minimize these occurrences, but it still happens and we all know it. Was it whistleblowing for the thousands of other documents he stole and then gave away that had absolutely nothing to do with the death of civilians? Whether or not you agree with a law, if you break that law you will be subjected to prosecution. This is more true when you wear the military uniform. Every service person swears to uphold the law and the uniform code of military justice. I think Manning showed a total disregard for the safety and welfare for not only his fellow troops, but also all of the American populace. Unfortunately, there are those who through either through lack of knowledge on the total ramifications of an action or through skewed ideology applaud those who take the law into their own hands. If you don't agree with a law, you should work to change the law via the legislative process instead of going for martyrdom and hoping somehow the law will be ignored.
Soldiers also swear to uphold & protect the Constitution & what it stands for not crooked politicians. There are plenty of soldiers who have stood up recently & spoke out against corruption going on & the crooked politicians armrest quarterbacking decisions from the comfort of Washington weather it's in our best interests or not. Unless your a flaming Liberal in today's political climate, good luck getting any change. There are more than enough laws on the books which are complete BS & everyone knows it. Getting things changed the "right" way is not always the practical or logical way sadly. And yes, in certain cases I do applaud people for taking actions instead of sitting on their hands waiting for what some consider "justice" to be served. Guess I'm just not a sheep.
When people obey the law because it is the law makes them responsible citizens not "sheep". If everyone violates the laws they don't agree with, we do not have society we have chaos. In the case of Manning, he voluntarily raised his hand. He also voluntarily pledged to not disclose the classified documents he had access to. He chose to make public information that had nothing to do with war tragedies. He just copied as much as he could without consideration to the content and either sold or gave it away. When caught, he claimed to be a whistle blower to avoid prosecution. I was privy to a lot of information while I was in the service. I knew that if I disclosed that information there would be dire consequences and chose not to break that trust. He chose another route and now that it has come back to bite him in the $$$, he is going to have to pay the consequences.
Had a whole thing written up about manning, but didn't feel like joining into this fight. I think he deserves solitary confinement for the rest of his life (I think this is worse than the death sentence) But I wouldn't be opposed to hanging him. I also dont think that just because you dont speak out doesn't make you a sheep. What manning did was foolish and dumb, he was a PFC that didn't have the bigger picture. Do we want all of our state secrets leaked? All of the bad things this government has done? I would say that some stuff the public just doesnt need to see. Well looks like I typed up what I erased.
I'm not talking about complete lawless chaos. But there are some laws that were put in place for the wrong reasons & if it benefits the public or country for those laws to be broken & light be shed on certain things then yes, those laws should be broke. And then they should be repealed accordingly. no politician or government official should be protected from crimes or other corruption just b/c there is a laws in place protecting them. All this does is breed a even more corrupt government the longer it happens. And honestly from all the recent things coming to light we should all be questioning our government & their motives. Thing are not as they should be & people are finally starting to wake up to that sad truth.
So who determines which laws are in place for the wrong reason? Who determines which laws should be broken? What you and I might deem completely rational and just, might seem bad to someone else. The domino effect that would follow still results in chaos.
I think whistleblowing is ok, but I am not informed enough about the information that he actually leaked to say what I think he deserves. The court will decide that anyway, not me. I do think he could have blown the whistle on the corruption without leaking documents and information. I do respect his oath to protect the Constitution over trusting our government because I don't think our government is following the Constitution anymore. With all that being said, if the federal government is the top tier of power and thinks the people report to them rather than understanding that they work for the people then who else can hold the federal government responsible for their corruption other than we the people? Is our government wrong? Yes. Was Manning wrong? Yes, based on the fact that he could have blown the whistle without leaking anything.
That is just it though, the irony of it all is if no one stands up then we all just keep in single file as they want. At some point people have to use logic to determine weather laws are in place for the better of the country & it's people or if they are being passed & put in place to secure even more power to the government. none of us can deny the government gains more & more power as time moves on. They no longer believe they work for us & in our best interests. Instead now we are TOLD what is in our best interests & sadly honest voters are being outnumbered by low information voters. So the majority of "change" we are seeing is actually crippling our country instead of strengthening it. I love the following quote & it stands more so true today than ever.... "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
That has to do with the social health of this country. People vote for politicians based purely on what that politician tells them or what that politician tells them about the opponent instead of doing the research and voting based on facts. There are those who control power now, that believe we are a democracy when we are a republic. The difference being a democracy believes that the government should take care of the people which requires big government and can suspend or deny rights to parts of the citizenry if they believe it is for the good of the majority. A republic says all are protected equally under the law and the law applies to all. A republic also believes that the federal government is there to tie the different regions of the country together under one umbrella of protection. With at least two generations of Americans that were raised to believe that they are entitled to a lifestyle instead of having to earn it, overturning the current incumbents will be difficult. Until voters realize this current road only leads to disaster, nothing in the government will improve. So what do we do? We educate the younger and hope they see the light. Violating the law only feeds the fire of the oppositions' camp.
I fully agree sir & well said. I just find issues with laws put in place to empower the government. Those are the laws I have no issue with people striking against. I fear there are too few good people left in politics & sadly politics drive this country weather right or wrong. I'm really not sure how we can actually fix things & get us back on track. I almost feel like it's going to take drastic measures before it's over with.
Getting back on track, Manning not only divulged classified documents on incidents that resulted in the deaths of what was presumably innocent civilians, but he divulged what was reported as thousands of other classified documents. His actions may have very well jeopardized the lives of American service people in Iraq and Afghanistan. For that alone, he needs to spend what I hope will be a very lengthy time in prison. There he can contemplate his actions and determine if the lives he jeopardized were worth his actions.
When I was over in the West Pacific in '72', I had a freind who was apposed to the Viet Nam war and didn't want to serve there. He told the brass that he was apposed to it and quit. He went to the brig and was eventually shipped off to who knows where but he never even took a chance with anyones life and never begrudged anyone who served. Him I can respect not some pinheaded punka** kid who thinks he's is above the law and put untold people at risk. Even the embarrasing stuff would fuel an already worked up enemy as well as distract some other solder from doing his job putting others in jeopardy. He needs the full sentance at "hard labor".
