Berkeley may honor Army private accused of leaks

[Joanne98]

Source: AP

BERKELEY, Calif. -- The Berkeley City Council will consider a resolution that would declare the Army private suspected of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks a hero and call for his release.

The council plans a vote Tuesday on the resolution in support of Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is being held in a military brig in Virginia. A city commission already has approved it.

Bob Meola, who authored the resolution, tells the San Francisco Chronicle that Manning is a patriot who deserves a medal.

Federal officials have criticized the leaks, saying they could endanger lives.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/08/AR2010120803057.html

[leftynyc]

1. Madness

I have no beef with Julian but this motherfucker committed treason. I hope he never sees the light of day again.

[smiley]

3. self delete

edited for lack of reading comprehension on my part

[Xithras]

4. She's talking about Manning, not Assange.

Manning is a U.S. citizen, a soldier, and the source of the leaks. Manning can, and should, be prosecuted for his leaks.

[smiley]

5. oops - you're right

please pardon my lack of reading comprehension.

[EFerrari]

8. He exposed hundreds of crimes. We can't have that. n/t

[Pavulon]

12. He just wasted a shit ton of my money. Thats the net net of this

the money it takes to fix the diplomacy he fucked up and the money to keep him in solitary at florence until he dies of old age a broken man.

[FedUpWithIt All]

16. I suspect the families of the photographers who were killed and knowing mislabeled "terrorists"

might feel differently.

[RZM]

2. I guess the Berkeley CC doesn't believe there should be any secrets

If that's how they feel, I guess that's their business. But I do wonder if they ever go into executive session? Because if so, this rings a bit hollow.

[DeadEyeDyck]

6. Manning will be old and gray the next time he wears a suit

without strips

[northernlights]

7. whistleblowing is not a crime

And nobody has been able to point to any specific information that is endangering any lives.

Not to mention that the Federal Governments multiple illegal wars have cost many, many thousands their lives and endanger all of our lives.

[Pavulon]

11. Manning will die an old man in federal prison for breaking a the 10-10 law

10 years per count. He will die right next to pollard in florence adx. Unless someone's death can be attributed to this then he will die like mcveigh.

He is a turd and brought dishonor on himself with his actions. Now he can pay for them.

[leftynyc]

13. Leaking diplomatic cables

and finding out that Sarkozy is an asshole is not whistleblowing. Do you really think an army private should be making the decisions on what needs to be secret?

[johnroshan]

14. Why do you see only the peripheral details that doesn't matter?

What about Clinton spying on UN officials?

What about US arm twisting Germany to avoid prosecution of CIA officials for kidnapping an innocent man and torturing him?

What about DynCorp using children to entertain Afghan Policemen?

Open your eyes and see the truth. You refuse to see it even when its right in front of you. Most of these "Secrets" are just officials trying to cover their asses, hiding their illegal activities. US badly needs stricter standards to declare something secret or classified.

[leftynyc]

19. This is very simple

An army private doesn't get to make those decisions. Period. As I stated up above, I really have no beef with Julian (not really true, his publishing social security numbers of some soldiers pisses me off), but this army private broke the law. Now he'll reap the consequences of that.

[johnroshan]

21. I think you're mistaken.

Its not the "Job Description" of an army private to determine if certain things should be kept secret.

However, it is the first and foremost duty of any citizen to report or blow the whistle on things that he/she perceives to be unlawful activities by ANYONE. He might be right or wrong, it doesn't matter. The burden of proof is on the government. Thats the only way people will be in control of the government and not the other way around as it is now.

John.

[FedUpWithIt All]

17. Who was it that determined that the Downing Street Memos should be released?

Did you question the legitimacy of their decision making? Those were memos of private diplomatic meetings. And it was right that they were released even though they confirmed little that wasn't already suspected.

[leftynyc]

20. This isn't just leaking

I don't even know that leaking is against the law (maybe it is, I really don't know) Manning downloaded classified material and passed it to a third party - as a member of the military. He's royally fucked so I hope he considers it worthwhile.

[davidinalameda]

9. thanks goodness all the problems in Berkeley are fixed

so the city council can debate this resolution

[EFerrari]

10. There has to be a "Learn to Chew Gum and Walk" handbook on the google somewhere.

[24601]

15. Boy, that will surely be the key endorsement that sways a court

martial - but perhaps not and don't call me Shirley. "Private Manning, this court was going to sentence you to life, but in deference the Berkeley Resolution, it is the decision of this court to instead sentence you to only one year per document, 250,000 years and order that you be considered for parole after only 200,000. And so that you not be lonely, we are transferring you from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks to the Leavenworth Federal Prison so you may share many happy years with Mr. Assange who has recently been convicted of 250,000 counts of conspiracy to receive stolen property and 6000 counts of accessory after the fact to improper handling of classified information."

A 2-fer!

[xchrom]

18. very cool! nt

[ipaint]

22. The crimes of those in power should always be exposed. Especially in the military

where apparently they get a free pass to murder civilians at will and then lie about it routinely, all on our dime.

It's the lies and secrets that kill people.