(Manning) Soldier to Face More Serious Charges in Leak

[alp227]

Source: NYT

Military prosecutors announced on Friday that they had decided to try Pfc. Bradley Manning on the most serious charges they have brought against him and seek a sentence that could be life without parole, despite his voluntary guilty plea to 10 lesser charges that carry a maximum total sentence of 20 years.

Private Manning admitted in court on Thursday that he had provided about 700,000 government documents to WikiLeaks, the antisecrecy group, in the most extensive leak of confidential and classified material in American history. But he pleaded guilty to the lesser charges in what is known as a “naked plea” — one made without the usual agreement with prosecutors to cap the potential sentence in return.

After the plea, prosecutors and their boss, the commanding general of the Washington Military District, had the option of settling for the 10 charges to which he had admitted his guilt and proceeding directly to sentencing. Instead, they said they would continue with plans for a court-martial beginning June 3, with 141 prosecution witnesses scheduled to testify.

“Given the scope of the alleged misconduct, the seriousness of the charged offenses, and the evidence and testimony available, the United States intends to proceed with the court-martial to prove Manning committed the charged offenses beyond the lesser charges to which he has already pled guilty,” said a statement from the military district.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/us/manning-to-face-more-serious-charges-in-leak.html

[msongs]

1. meanwhile the people who murder women and kids using drones run the streets free as birds nt

[RKP5637]

3. +1, n/t

[MotherPetrie]

27. And are called heroes for it

[Ash_F]

31. So do people who rape and sell women and kids. Plus they get fat government contracts.

Manning uncovered the State Department cover-up of Dyncorp's child sex-trade. It likely continues to this day. The diplomats who buried it are the real traitors

WikiLeaks Reveals That Military Contractors Have Not Lost Their Taste For Child Prostitutes

[atreides1]

42. Don't forget

They're also getting a special medal that is above the Bronze Star for Valor...because it's a brave thing to sit in front of an XBox and kill people from thousands of miles away!

[Ken Burch]

2. This is always what the secrecy culture produces...persecution.

God forbid anyone try to bring out the truth in this country.

And the sickest thing of all is that many "liberals" are just fine with the secrecy culture and the National Security State.

[RKP5637]

4. Anymore I think of it more as the National Police State! n/t

[lonestarnot]

12. Black holes.

[daybranch]

5. Manning acted as a Patriot

Secrecy needed to do wrong is not secrecy deserved. Thank God for Patriotic government servants like Manning who speak out even at their own peril. Transparency and openness must be fostered to have democracy.

[MrMickeysMom]

6. Whistle Blowing is NOT terrorism...

Anyone who thinks Manning aided the enemy has a pretty good idea of who the enemy is from reading Pogo.

[cstanleytech]

14. Its not the whistleblowing thats the problem.

As if I recall correctly it would have been perfectly legal for Manning to whistleblow to the a member of congress and or the inspector generals office but rather the problem is that he decided not to use that perfectly legal method and instead he choose to go outside it and released classified material to wikileaks thereby violating the law in regards to the oaths he took for handling said classified material.
Of course imo the prosecutor might be going for overkill in pushing forward since he has a guilty plea already and Manning will be doing some jail time but thats just my opinion.

[BlueMTexpat]

17. You're right in your analysis.

Also, IMO, this is prosecutorial overkill of the type directed towards anyone the RW doesn't like.

So long as people like Republican Senators can leak classified material to the public in committee hearings - some with more real-time consequences - and high-up members of Bush II can "out" a covert operative - and as a consequence all her working assets as well - with NO consequences whatsoever, this is outrageous.

Accept Manning's plea and put him in prison for 20 years. IMO, a showing of actual harm caused - other than serious embarrassment - should be required for more than that. Prosecutorial zeal should be directed towards the REAL criminals: those who lied in the first place! And who also may deliberately have mis/over-used "Secret" classification in order to keep the public clearly out of the loop until long after the fact. From what I have seen, the leaked documents were indeed sensitive and certainly intended to be confidential, but hardly the stuff worthy of "secret" classification. See generally http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information

Yes, under the law, there must be punishment. But in context of what was already known publicly and considering ALL the circumstances, this is overkill.

[Canuckistanian]

7. Oh, FFS

Everyone KNOWS he's being made an example of. And we know he's going away for a LONG time.

I'd just like to know what actual damage or harm he committed, other than being a whistleblower

[msanthrope]

38. Here ya' go.

http://www.dailytech.com/Taliban+Murders+Afghan+Elder+Thanks+Wikileaks+for+Revealing+Spies/article19250.htm

The Afghan War Logs were released unredacted...mainly because Assange didn't care who got killed....

[Canuckistanian]

39. Well, it's tragic that an Afghan got killed

But what harm was ever done to an American?

No, he's being prosecuted so diligently because he embarrassed the government by releasing that video showing killing of civilians.

[struggle4progress]

40. No, he's being prosecuted because he used his security clearance to download and release

hundreds of thousands of documents -- and the military wants to send a clear message to other soldiers that all hell will break loose upon any of them who decide to do something similar

[msanthrope]

41. Perhaps I am misunderstanding your post. Care to expand? nt

[Iliyah]

8. Yeah, religions killing non-believers,

and all those Innocent people who were murdered because of the non-existence of weapons of mass destructions, and don't forget the outing of a CIA agent where people died, and killings here in America because of guns (who cares about them the deaths anyways), and when America was warn of 911 and they ignored it, and Americans suffering and dying because of no health care, but alas, you have a person who will tell the truth about the evil doings of America and tell a person who dislikes America.

And instead of drones lets send your sons and daughters in and pray they don't kill innocent people and if they do, send them jail as well, if they survive. I am so gawd damn mad about this drone shit, and yes it hurts my heart, but did these FM don't care, nope, and these people who hate America will take out your whole lovely community.

[savannah43]

9. I wonder if Manning knew that his was a "naked plea?"

I smell a rat. A lying rat. What actual harm has come to the US government over any releases? Any at all? No, so what the prosecution of Manning has become is teaching a lesson to anyone else who tries to screw with them. Some will consider this a great challenge. I can't wait. What grand theater this has all become.

[tavalon]

11. What is theater to you, is a life lost to Manning

[savannah43]

13. Really?

I was talking about the payback from hackers getting even with the military. And, it's not over for Manning yet. Those who are really concerned about him, not just on paper, but in real life, should protest his situation and the treatment he's getting from the military. Remember who is head of the US Military--the Commander in Chief. Write a letter--start a petition. Do something other then criticizing me because you misinterpreted what I wrote.

[tavalon]

19. Sorry, I did misunderstand what you wrote

[struggle4progress]

10. "Hi! I'm Brad! I downloaded hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents which I never read!

And then I had a vague five minute conversation with somebody or other somewhere whose name I can't remember, and then I left a phone message on somebody's email, and then I tried to visit somebody else's office but it was closed due to the snow! So you see, I tried to work through the system, and it was impossible! So instead I sent the documents off to somebody I'd never met, because I thought I should spur public debate about something! I guess I shouldn't have done that! Oops! Sorry!"


Well, golly! I wonder why that didn't work

[Hissyspit]

21. "Manning, shocked by “the bloodlust,” went with WikiLeaks Watching soldiers kill "like a child

torturing an ant with a magnifying glass."

The American people had the right to know "the true costs of war," Manning said in court today today. He continued:

"I felt we were risking so much for people who seemed unwilling to cooperate with us, leading to frustration and hatred on both sides. I began to become depressed at the situation we found ourselves mired in year after year." (CBS News)

"We were obsessed with capturing and killing human targets on lists and ignoring goals and missions. I believed if the public, particularly the American public, could see this it could spark a debate on the military and our foreign policy in general (that) might cause society to reconsider the need to engage in counter-terrorism while ignoring the human situation of the people we engaged with every day."

He was particularly upset by video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack that was ultimately found to have killed civilians and a Reuters journalist. &quot T)he bloodlust they seemed to have, they seemed not to value human life," said Manning. "For me that was like a child torturing an ant with a magnifying glass."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/02/manning-shocked-by-the-bloodlust-went-with-wikileaks

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/bradley-mannings-surprising-statement-court-details-why-he-made-his-historic

[struggle4progress]

29. Could be, though it doesn't explain his dump of hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables

that he hadn't read

[Hissyspit]

22. Brad Manning deserves what he gets cuz he's stupid!

Gov. Siegelman deserves what he gets cuz he's stupid.

John Kirakaou deserves what he gets cuz he's stupid.

(Oh, also, they might somehow or another make the Obama administration look bad or be a nuisance or embarrassment.)

All the torturers and conspirators and war criminals? They're fine, cuz they're not stupid.

[struggle4progress]

32. I'd guess nobody thinks Manning is stupid: his behavior suggests severe emotional problems,

and his statement "explaining" his behavior indicates profound naïveté and self-absorbed self-righteousness -- but none of that implies stupidity

The prosecution of him comes as no surprise

He's being prosecuted because he had misused his access to large databases, downloading and releasing hundreds of thousands of documents: he says he wanted to stir public debate, but the details there are necessarily somewhat vague, because he never even read most of the documents he released

That is, the largest security breach in US history appears to be largely a random dump of material that Manning could download

The military establishment naturally wants other soldiers, with similar access to classified databases, to understand clearly that such behavior is unacceptable and that security regulations are taken seriously

For this reason, military prosecutors plan to make him an example

Manning himself could have guessed in advance that his activities would lead to this prosecution. He is intelligent enough. But it seems he was too self-absorbed and too emotionally unstable to think clearly

[Ash_F]

33. The public debate has not been spurned because drones like you rule popular media.

Thankfully we have some real news agencies gaining traction, like the Huffington post.

WikiLeaks Reveals That Military Contractors Have Not Lost Their Taste For Child Prostitutes

Keep trying trying to hush the debate though. This is what you are defending.

[struggle4progress]

34. The actual cable says:

... Ambassador Mussomeli discussed a range of issues with Minister of Interior (MoI) Hanif Atmar on June 23. On the Kunduz Regional Training Center (RTC) DynCorp event of April 11 (reftel), Atmar reiterated his insistence that the U.S. try to quash any news article on the incident or circulation of a video connected with it. He continued to predict that publicity would "endanger lives." He disclosed that he has arrested two Afghan police and nine other Afghans as part of an MoI investigation into Afghans who facilitated this crime of "purchasing a service from a child" ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/213720

According to this cable: the Afghani MoI approached the US ambassador to demand that the US quash the DynCorp story; the ambassador appropriately declined to offer any such assurance; and the Afghani MoI further reported that he had arrested a number of Afghanis in connection with the event. This does not suggest any nefarious activity by the US, nor does it suggest the Afghani government was indifferent to the event: it rather indicates that the Afghani government intended to take legal action but was concerned about political ramifications and violence if the story circulated widely and so asked the US ambassador to limit reporting on the topic, which the ambassador of course did not do

It is not entirely clear from the cable exactly what range of violence the Afghani MoI expected, but it is quite plausible that the prostituted children themselves might have been at risk had the story circulated widely in Afghanistan, not only from Taliban and similar extremists, but perhaps even from their "owners" -- who after all were engaged in the criminal act of child prostitution and could therefore have found it convenient to silence the most obvious and immediate witnesses against them, namely, the prostituted children

We can be certain, in any case, that Mr Manning did not read this cable and that he made no assessment of its content, since it is clear from his recent statement that he downloaded hundreds of thousands of such documents in about a twelve day period, which would leave him time for at most a four second glance if he did nothing but read the cables 24/7 during those days -- and allowing him time to actually perform some of his job duties, to eat, to visit restrooms or to shower, and to sleep, would leave him only a second or two glance at each document during those few days

The more general context, not covered in the cable, includes the entirely confused legal status of US military contractors in Iraq: unfortunately, over the years, courts have frequently limited the ability to sue military contractors; the Bush administration repeatedly offered contractors immunity; Congress has been inconsistent about who has power to control contractors and what contractors fall under control; the current military PoV is that contractors fall under UCMJ, but there are substantial problems in implementing that approach; and (as noted in the cable) it was impossible under the DynCorp contract for the military to exercise direct oversight over DynCorp. A very basic issue therefore seems to me to be the problem of private military contractors, and the issue of how their activities are controlled by law

[Ash_F]

35. That's a lot of words to excuse protecting child molesters.

What ever happened to "you do the crime, you do the time"? Once this came to the Diplo's attention, he should have done his due diligence to see that it was stopped. Instead he told the his Afghan contact to stay quiet about it, and didn't do anything on his end. That is called a cover-up. He enabled the rape and torment of children.

Private Manning and Ambassador Mussomeli both work for the United States. But only one of them was doing their job.



And no we can't be sure Manning did not see this. Not that it really matters. More deflection.

[struggle4progress]

37. You misrepresent the cable. The Afghani MoI wanted the ambassador to promise to silence reporters,

which the ambassador declined to do.

Moreover, you evidently cannot understand what I wrote regarding the current legal status of US military contractors. The Bush administration in the early years of these wars proclaimed blanket immunities for the contractors and negotiated contracts that left the contractors without external oversight. About halfway throughj Bush's second term, Congress began to chip away at these immunities, but did so only slowly and in limited fashion. Anyone, who regularly paid attention to the politics surrounding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, has been long aware of this immunity problem

The job of the ambassador, of course, serves as an interface for official relationships between the two countries. He has no criminal investigative power, and no prosecution or enforcement authority, against military contractors. As I indicated upthread, it is somewhat of a question -- who exactly has such powers and authorities? -- and the current answer might be: The local military command, under the UCMJ, maybe

[Ash_F]

47. More nonsense. I suppose you felt the same about the Penn State cover-up?

PS - HURFFF BLURRFF it's not my job hear no evil see no evil

[struggle4progress]

48. I provided a link to the cable in my #34. It's written in plain English.

And of course, the Penn State scandal has nothing to do with this. Nor was the scandal any skin off my nose: not being a sports fan, I never watched a full game involving Penn State or anybody else

It's fine with me if you want to support Mr Manning -- but bullshizzing will quickly diminish your credibility; and silly trolling behavior (such as "I suppose you felt the same about the Penn State cover-up&quot won't help either

[Ash_F]

49. The Penn State scandal was also about people in power covering up child rape

And just like Penn State, the flying monkeys came in defense of these criminals. DU had a really good opportunity to clean up the site on both occasions, but alas, this is tolerated. I feel like DU 2001 would have handled them. This site has really fallen low in the ~12 years I've been reading it.

Have a good day.

[Kolesar]

50. "This is tolerated" "on both occasions"

That was vague.

[Ash_F]

51. The defense of those who chose to cover up child molestation.

Both in the Penn State scandal and the wikileaks cables(among many other crimes). It should have been pretty clear what I was talking about, if you were around here for both stories.

[ArcticFox]

15. What was he thinking?

When I heard he pled guilty, I thought it was a plea deal. He just proved half their case. Wish the good people would stop being so stupid.

[rhett o rick]

16. This is clearly the elite oligarchs against the masses.

Guess who will win.

[GliderGuider]

20. +1 - However Manning is, in fact, guilty of one thing for sure...

He's guilty of naive underestimation in the first degree.

The Powers That Be want to make sure that nobody even thinks about trying this sort of thing ever again.

Manning's head is going to be displayed on a pike, metaphorically speaking...

[rhett o rick]

23. Yes I am afraid so. I dont see much we can do. nm

[Deep13]

18. "Given the scope of the alleged misconduct...."

Telling the truth.

Orwell had no idea.

[Sunlei]

24. This man has been punished enough. He is no threat and trial is a absurd waste of our Federal funds!

[Whats_that]

25. Good...

Life is just right...

[Deep13]

36. Were you on the jury?

Oh, that's right, there hasn't been a trial at all, let alone a speedy one.

[Whats_that]

44. I have his own admissions...

Good enough?

Choices have consequences and chose very very poorly.

[Hissyspit]

45. What a stupid fucking post.

[Whats_that]

46. I should feel bad for Manning...

... Because he is stupid?

Forget him, let him reap what he sowed.

[bemildred]

26. Let the show trial go on. nt

[joanbarnes]

28. I will always love and admire Bradley Manning, humbled by his courage.

[Joey Liberal]

30. The Army wants to nail this kid

The Army could have given him 20 years. Plus, he's already been through hell. But no, they want to really nail him and make an example of him. He's only a PFC after all. The brass sees him as expendable. The only thing that can save this kid from life in an Army prison is public outcry. Remember - most senior Army officers are conservatives. No wonder we can't win a war.

[struggle4progress]

43. "He's only a PFC" because he was demoted after punching Jihrleah Showman in the face