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Bradley Manning Could Face Death: For What?
The U.S. Army yesterday announced that it has filed 22 additional charges against Bradley Manning, the Private accused of being the source for hundreds of thousands of documents (as well as this still-striking video) published over the last year by WikiLeaks. Most of the charges add little to the ones already filed, but the most serious new charge is for "aiding the enemy," a capital offense under Article 104 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Although military prosecutors stated that they intend to seek life imprisonment rather than the death penalty for this alleged crime, the military tribunal is still empowered to sentence Manning to death if convicted.
Article 104 -- which, like all provisions of the UCMJ, applies only to members of the military -- is incredibly broad. Under 104(b) -- almost certainly the provision to be applied -- a person is guilty if he "gives intelligence to or communicates or corresponds with or holds any intercourse with the enemy, either directly or indirectly" (emphasis added), and, if convicted, "shall suffer death or such other punishment as a court-martial or military commission may direct." The charge sheet filed by the Army is quite vague and neither indicates what specifically Manning did to violate this provision nor the identity of the "enemy" to whom he is alleged to have given intelligence. There are, as international law professor Kevin Jon Heller notes, only two possibilities, and both are disturbing in their own way.
In light of the implicit allegation that Manning transmitted this material to WikiLeaks, it is quite possible that WikiLeaks is the "enemy" referenced by Article 104, i.e., that the U.S. military now openly decrees (as opposed to secretly declaring) that the whistle-blowing group is an "enemy" of the U.S. More likely, the Army will contend that by transmitting classified documents to WikiLeaks for intended publication, Manning "indirectly" furnished those documents to Al Qaeda and the Taliban by enabling those groups to learn their contents. That would mean that it is a capital offense not only to furnish intelligence specifically and intentionally to actual enemies -- the way that, say, Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen were convicted of passing intelligence to the Soviet Union -- but also to act as a whistle-blower by leaking classified information to a newspaper with the intent that it be published to the world. Logically, if one can "aid the enemy" even by leaking to WikiLeaks, then one can also be guilty of this crime by leaking to The New York Times.
The dangers of such a theory are obvious. Indeed, even the military itself recognizes those dangers, as the Military Judges' Handbook specifically requires that if this theory is used -- that one has "aided the enemy" through "indirect" transmission via leaks to a newspaper -- then it must be proven that the "communication was intended to reach the enemy." None of the other ways of violating this provision contain an intent element; recognizing how extreme it is to prosecute someone for "aiding the enemy" who does nothing more than leak to a media outlet, this is the only means of violating Article 104 that imposes an intent requirement.
But does anyone actually believe that Manning's intent was to ensure receipt of this material by the Taliban, as opposed to exposing for the public what he believed to be serious American wrongdoing and to trigger reforms? Indeed, in the purported chat logs between Manning and government informant Adrian Lamo, Lamo asked Manning why he didn't sell this information to a foreign government and get rich off it, and this is how Manning replied:
because it's public data. . . . it belongs in the public domain -information should be free - it belongs in the public domain - because another state would just take advantage of the information… try and get some edge - if its out in the open . . . it should be a public good
This prosecution theory would convert acts of whistle-blowing into a hanging offense.
Read the full article at Salon.com
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35 Comments so far
Show AllNot since Nathan Hale has anyone been executed for sharing information with Americans.
Americans are the enemy.
Ah, now I understand. This is why sharing information with the American people is an act of treason. I am the enemy. (Overdub power chords)
It's all such a mad hatter's tea party of justice.
In case, anybody missed this:
Last night, PFC Manning was inexplicably stripped of all clothing by the Quantico Brig. He remained in his cell, naked, for the next seven hours. At 5:00 a.m., the Brig sounded the wake-up call for the detainees. At this point, PFC Manning was forced to stand naked at the front of his cell.
The Duty Brig Supervisor (DBS) arrived shortly after 5:00 a.m. When he arrived, PFC Manning was called to attention. The DBS walked through the facility to conduct his detainee count. Afterwards, PFC Manning was told to sit on his bed. About ten minutes later, a guard came to his cell to return his clothing
There's a cell waiting for all of US it's a free market response to expanding demand.
"Mass production of torture, rape and other sadistic sex crimes" R US
And the market for this "product" just keeps expanding. There's a real future in modern day dungeons, son.
Justified as a necessary response to realistic threat scenarios.
American Consumer Revolt!!!!!
Drone em Mr. Sulu.
In a couple of years there will be a masive drone network in the US, both overhead and otherwise. The cops already want them and drone bases are in some US National Parks and State Parks (incl the Adirondacks) are comin to a park near you!
Manning's defense will surely quote various administration officials to the effect that the information released did no real damage to the US.
We NEVER learn from history.
Jim Shea
Manning should fire his current attorney's and hire Glenn Greenwald to represent him.
Then we all need to draft Glenn Greenwald to run for president.
Now THERE is hope we can believe in.
Provided, of course, that Manning's defense is allowed to present a defense. Remember that we're dealing with "military justice" here, where coerced confessions are considered valid, and neither the accused nor the judge is entitled to see the "evidence" against the defendant.
They are narrowing the charges to ones that affect only the military, to avoid having to explain why the NY Times is not being PERSECUTED as well. The Times, which millions around the world read, did a lot more damage printing the info than Manning did sharing it with ONE organization.
But this is about silencing dissent. They are killing a fly with a sledgehammer. They intend to instill fear in our hearts.
Also, Manning is openly gay. Cowards love to abuse minorities.
yeah yer right minorities should be exempt from criminal prosecution... we should only hold white men acountable
anyways how do you not see the difference between a media outlet and a soldier from a legal standpoint? a media outlet is constitutionly protected and would be negligent to ignore a leak like this. a soldier doesnt have the same rights as a citizen and are aware of that when they sign up. i can see some nobility in what wikilinks is doing but this site is full of crazies
So, then, do you not believe a soldier is a citizen? Where in the constitution is that clause? Are you okay with the abuse of this man, such as being stripped naked, not allowed to sleep for more than 15 minutes at a time, not allowed to have a mattress or blankets, the extreme delay between arrest and trial, etc., etc.? Is he not innocent until proven guilty? Have you seen proof that Manning gave any sort of information to anyone, let alone Wikileaks?
Yup, we're all crazies. We believe in transparency of government.
If you're too sane for us better get out now before we infect you.
Uh last I looked Manning was a white man, you stupid bigot.
Greenwald sez: "Logically, if one can 'aid the enemy' even by leaking to WikiLeaks, then one can also be guilty of this crime by leaking to The New York Times."
***
So whose trial will come first ... Manning's, or Cheney's?
The real offense was to embarrass officials such as Hillary Clinton. So, embarrassing Hillary now is being turned into a hanging offense. Apres moi, le deluge?
Abbywood suggests we need to draft Glenn Greenwald to run for president. Not a good idea. Greenwald would then need to start doing terrible things, because that's what presidents do, and we would need Greenwald to report on the horrible things Greenwald is doing.
sad but true . . .
We have been lied to repeatedly. Sadam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. The Tonkin Gulf incident never happened.
It's gratifying for the American people to get true information.
Aiding the enemy? Would that be those nine young "enemy" kids gathering firewood that they killed this Tuesday, or some of the thousands of others they incinerated previously?
...when the Tao is lost patriots become traitors, and traitors patriots... when the Tao is lost wise men become fools and fools wise men...
"rudyspeaks"
I find your comment interesting in several ways.
Can the tao be lost or is it that (seemingly) too many people have not found the tao?
Also, this makes me think of Shakespeare's (there's an interesting name) "As You Like It" and the contrast between the characters of Touchstone the fool and Jaques the wise man.
All of us need to find the forest of Arden.
Bardley Manning and Julian Assange criminals? The real criminals are the ones they exposed.
Who is telling the truth? Who can we believe?
I hope everyone reads the entire article on Salon. There is important info there that isn't in this excerpt and GG updates it as new information becomes available.
Manning's accusers have yet to identify his crime and certainly no victim has yet been identified.
Kafka, much?
what have you done today to Uncontribute to the system?
withdraw from the system.
divest from wall street.
invest in main street.
do whatever you can to NOT participate in the system.
glenn, the wall street vampires and their thugs in DC have no interest in logical debate. they just want to show the people what they can and will do if we make a peep.
There are aspects to this that are not discussed enough. 1) The Wikipedia tapes exposed crimes, including war crimes, and because there were many people engaged in these crimes and engaged in covering them up, these are criminal conspiracies. 2) If it is true that Bradley Manning downloaded and released the Wikipedia tapes and cables, then it was the height of incompetence to arrange a security system that made it possible, in fact, easy for a very young man to do that. If the charges are true, then there are many others who enabled this and who thus also indirectly gave information to the enemy. 3) President Obama has direct chain-of-command power and authority to stop the prison abuses of Manning. By his oath of office, to defend and honor the US Constitution, President Obama is obligated to put a stop to "cruel and unusual punishment".
Please FREQUENTLY write, email, FAX, and call his office about this:
Post: White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20500.
Email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
FAX: 202-456-2461
Phone: 202-456-1111
you must be one of the paid neo-lib shills who are over-running CD lately.
otherwise, why else would you litter the thread with rubbish like "write to obomber", the principal war criminal?
Pvt. Manning is being accused of "aiding the enemy" in time of war, a crime potentially punishable by death under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Who is this "enemy" he has supposedly aided? Certainly not the Taliban or Al Qaida, and no covert U.S. confederate or collaborator has been exposed, jeopardized, or harmed by the publication of the documents he leaked to Wikileaks.
The only enemy of the State he succeeded in aiding was the Truth. After failing to protect those in power from the consequences of their actions, the State is belatedly trying to wreak its impotent vengeance upon this little irritant and suppress dissent. I think a well-worn quote attributed to Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Chief of Propaganda, would be appropriate here.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
Obviously, Pvt. Manning, abettor of the truth, hasn't got a chance.
(A letter sent to officials and the president.)
Dear Sir,
My duty as an American citizen, who cares deeply about our country and people, is to speak up for the sake of our country and its principles, which are for truth and justness and human decency.
My conscience is speaking on behalf of Private 1st Class Bradley E. Manning, a soldier being held in inhumane conditions in the United States Marine Corps Quantico Brig in Virgina. The reports of the conditions of his confinement are un-American. They resemble the conditions found in repressed countries using inhumane treatment, those same conditions that United States leaders are quick to call horrible and deplorable.
Our country needs the truth for its own betterment. Intelligence agencies which also consist of Wall Street lawyers and corporate heads, and whose influences steer towards manipulating the playing field to where their own best interests come first, have already wreaked havoc upon the state of our country.
We suffer the loss of our soldiers' lives and health in wars where their enemies are the same fighters that our intelligence agency encouraged and funded years ago, being formed overseas to fight another country in an earlier era.
Just as Church and State do not mix well, neither does the Military and Wall Street Corporatism. And no matter how hard a higher echelon of ties, tries to hide those enmeshments, it still shows. We don't have to look far to see the effects it has had.
Our country's lifetime has gotten to the point where its health now needs the truth for its future well-being. Nothing else will be able to continue to replace that. See the facts for yourself. There are those of high level status who remain in denial, believing that they can ultimately manipulate situations into some sort of silver lining, while failing to realize that their own denial does our country no good.
Our country needs its people's conscientiousness. It needs its people exposing the truth. Our country does not deserve to become known as the quick cover-up capital of the world. Nor does it deserve to be influenced into being another inhumane treatment facilitator either. For those ways and means to become a policy of our country's officials, just shows the weakness of conscience, which falls by following the methods of repressed lesser countries, rather than leading the way through the strength of truth and fairness.
No human deserves inhumane treatment. And no one in our country who exposes the truth deserves inhumane treatment. And our military does not deserve inhumane treatment amongst one another.
Truth is not our country's enemy. Falsehoods may consider the truth to be an enemy, but our country and its principles don't. Our country's principles need the truth. For without the truth, our country's principles will cease to be.
All around the world there are humans being persecuted for exposing the truth. When there is a human in the Quantico Brig in Virginia being persecuted for exposing the truth, it just shows how well lies have taken hold. And our country and military and citizens don't deserve that.
You Sir, are in a position to intervene and stop the unfair and inhumane treatment of Pvt. Manning, and righten that unconstitutional dire situation. You Sir, are in a position to show our country, and the rest of world, that the United States Military is not like the military of repressed lesser countries.
You Sir, are in a position to let our country and the world see, that you are on the side of truth and decency.
Please intervene to stop the unfair and inhumane treatment of Private 1st Class Bradley E. Manning.
Sincerely,
Sally Kline
Thoughtful. Nice. Thanks, Sally.
DC activists: there's a fundraiser for Bradley Manning's legal defense fund on Sunday, March 13 @ 4:00pm @ Busboys and Poets ( 5th & K St) and a rally on March 20th @ 2:00pm in Quantico
One of the last gasps from the dying empire. How many more people of conscience will go down in the vain effort to preserve the illusion of control and domination? And if Bradley Manning isn't a sufficicient example of what will be done to truthtellers, we have the example of Tim DeChristopher to remind us.
Sallysense for President 2012! You go Girl!
I do not understand why, when given a DOD deficit in understanding its "secure system" of reporting, that a lowly private should be penalized for the DOD's underestimation of its prowess!