[BREAKING NEWS] Bradley Manning Acquitted...Sort of...

Let the mudslinging begin!!!

Regrettably, he won't hang. But here's hoping he gets sent to GenPop at Leavenworth, where it won't be long before he gets a shiv in the back.

That little fairy is going to get something in the back but it ain't a shiv.

He was acquited of one charge - the most obviously bullshit one - and found guilty of 20 others, including espionage.

The US war on whistleblowers continues.

Governments don't like it when you expose their dirty little secrets. They tend to get upset.


VERY upset.

Shame he won't swing.

Bleeding out from multiple stab wounds is far more painful.

Bullets are pretty cheap....

Great to see out law-abiding posters advocating murder.

"Shot while trying to escape." Hmmmm.

My opinion has been changing over time on this case. In principle what Manning did was wrong, but if you look at the atrocities he exposed that the US government was trying to be kept hidden, then I think we need more people like him and Edward Snowden to expose the corruption and the totalitarian tactics of our government and it's never-ending war machine.

For someone who is against our war policies I have no problem with that. We know where these people stand, and this being America they have that right. But when YOU ARE IN THE FUCKING ARMY then realize "hey, there is violent shit going on I don't feel good about. I'm telling the world" you are a hypocritical shitstain. Why the fuck did he join? Oh yes, to "make a difference." JOIN THE FUCKING PEACE CORPS! Did he not understand the Armed Forces wages war? Guess he never asked his recruiter too many questions.

It is a bullshit lie that what he exposed, or what he was pissed off about was "waging war".

Yeah, on the one hand I really don't like the betrayal aspect of the whole thing and making sensitive information available to people who are literally trying to destroy your way of life.

On the other hand I think it's pretty important to know how greasy your government is, and the bullshit they engage in. It's important to keep governments honest, because they have no intention of being so.

I'm torn.

Nice.

And people criticize Snowden for not sticking around to face charges. Nothing's going to change because Manning is imprisoned. It's not martyrdom if your persecution doesn't change anything.

Yes, I agree, keep governments honest. I'm glad there are people that do that. But when you take a fucking oath and sign a contract, you keep your fucking crusading to yourself. That's what grownups do anyway, or at least in my family and among everyone else I know. Your results may vary.

I agree, hang all soldiers.

The truth that war and government in general are complicated and multi-layered so you have to not get overwhelmed by everything you can't control so you do the best you can and don't fuck over your buddies in the process. Fuck, I barely got through high school and I know that.

Well he'll have a few years to ponder his short-sighted career in changing the world for the better. I bet his family is real proud of him.

That's funny, because when I went through officer training for the Air Force, they hammered the point about how we had a duty to disobey illegal orders, and to out any illegal activities we might have found out about. True, official channels are the way you're supposed to go, but to be frank, the oath service members take is to the Constitution, not to the military or the government. And if one becomes disillusioned by knowledge that the military and the country was up to some slimy shit, and doubted any action would come from going through any official channels, can you really blame them for trying to make it known, so it's exposed to the world and has to be dealt with?

If you see something you think is wrong, your duty is to expose it and roll with the consequences.

Here's what all the Manning defenders don't seen to understand:

HE DIDN'T JUST EXPOSE 'WRONGDOING'.

He did a malicious data dump of EVERYTHING he could get his soft little hands on. 99.99999% of which had nothing to do with any wrongdoing, but contained shit that wasn't supposed to get out. Like the names of people that were helping identify and grab terrorist fuck bags. Some of those people got killed b/c Manning was a little bitch that couldn't take being in the Army so like a child just lashed out in any way he could.

Fuck that dude. And fuck anyone that supports his traitorous ass.

In other news change.gov (Obama) removes promise to protect whistleblowers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/obama-whistleblower-website_n_3658815.html

And how do you know exactly what illegal orders are? Do you carry the UCMJ and Court Marshal manuals in your hip pocket? And define "out illegal activities" please. Does that mean running around yelling "citizens arrest" every time you see a jaywalker? I guess theoretically you could do this, and the military would back you up for exposing the charlatans. Now here's reality - all the people doing most of the illegal shit are very powerful, and in cahoots, and have dirt on each other, and will in the end tear off your head and shit down your neck. Hope that doesn't disillusion you too much. Just what I've learned in my 22+ years of active duty and seven more as a government contractor.

Name them.

Do you dispute that torture and murder are illegal and do you think that the military should be entitled to cover up details of tens of thousands of civilian casualties, lie about friendly-fire casualties, maintain a network of bases for conducting the aformentioned torture and target medical personnel responding to their airstrikes?

So Bradley was personally ordered to do these things but refused? He's a busy guy. Or was he in a position to stop any of these things or just reporting them after-the-fact?

So putting his own people in future jeopardy is worth the risk of exposing actions which were (at Bradley's level) alleged or if true couldn't be proved?
Spin it how you want - he's a whiny bitch of an excuse for a soldier and got what he deserved.

Leave the strawmen out. The post you responded to stated thus: "a duty to disobey illegal orders, and to out any illegal activities we might have found out about".

That's what Bradley Manning did, contrary to your dishonest pretense that his issue was with "waging war". And no amount of appeals to security considerations justifies keeping those things secret.

Whatever you say Blue Falcon. So if some of your comrades get killed (those pesky security considerations again) it's a small price to pay. How very noble of them. Your sainthood certificate is coming in the mail.

BTW did any heads roll over the "illegal activities?"
So putting his buddies in jeopardy was not worth the risk was it?
Hey, whatever helps little Bradley sleep at night I guess.

It is revealing that you have not an iota of remorse or concern for the major war crimes that have been revealed by Bradley Manning. If you had a tenth the concern for the hundreds of thousands of people who lie dead or the unknown number who are rotting in your torture chambers and any inclination to prevent these things or punish those responsible as you had for the abstract possibility that someone in your armies might face danger in the course of their aggressions, then we'd be getting somewhere.

If the crimes had not been committed, then revealing them would not be necessary. So place any ire you have from the consequences of that firmly at the door of Messrs. Cheney, Rumsfeld & co. and desist in your support for those who call attention to the real criminals.