Bradley Manning was sentenced by a military judge today to 35 years in prison for releasing classified information to Wikileaks, the largest leak in US history.
BREAKING: #Manning gets 35 years in WikiLeaks case, and will be credited with 1,294 days due to pre-trial confinement.
— RT America (@RT_America) August 21, 2013
The army soldier apologized to the court last week, saying “I am sorry that my actions hurt people; I am sorry that they hurt the United States.”
Defense attorneys for Manning had tried to influence a lighter sentence for Manning, arguing that the Army was negligent in not recognizing the soldier’s growing instability. The defense maintained that the army should have in turn revoked Manning’s security clearance, transferred or discharged him. A psychiatrist had testified that Manning’s gender identity disorder and narcissistic personality traits contributed to his decision to leak classified materials.
On July 30th, Bradley Manning was found guilty of twenty offenses of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which included espionage, theft of government property and exceeding his authorized access. He was found not guilty of the most serious charge of ‘aiding the enemy.’
Manning leaked more than 450,000 war logs, several war related videos and 250,000 state department cables to Wikileaks.
He had faced a maximum of up to 90 years in prison, which had been reduced from 136 years when the judge ruled that some of the counts should be merged to avoid “an unreasonable multiplication of charges.”
Read here for prior Bradley Manning coverage.
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With the welcoming of gays in the military, prepare yourself for many similar instances. As long as the military deludes itself that being homosexual is within the normality curve, they will continue to ignore the obvious signs that some, not all, gays are unsuitable for high security clearance.
Look, before some folks get all upset about this foregoing statement of fact, let me also say that there is a place in the military for people of various sexual orientations. It’s just a fact that some homosexuals are just not as “well-adjusted” as the population at large.
That’s also what my father says, who is retired Air Force. He says there has always been gays in the service, but they were the kind of people who did their jobs and didn’t feel the need to constantly express themselves. And that the military was a good life for them. But, that when the military lets in every little gay narcissist, there is going to be some serious problems, and one of them is going to have a bad hair day, and take out a whole base with a bomb load.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
35 years is not nearly long enough. Especially when he becomes eligible for parole after serving just a third of that time.
Being a narcissist with a gender disorder is no excuse for betraying one’s oath and one’s country.
Good.
Now jug Snowden.
Then tear about military intelligence and NSA procedures and methods so that this doesn’t happen again. How is it that low-level twerps like Manning and Snowden get such access? How is it that basic audit controls, firewalls, compartments, etc aren’t there?
And most importantly, why hasn’t there been any higher level accountability? Who is the general/admiral/Pentagon official relieved of command for this affair?
Finding Manning guilty was necessary. It’s a good start. We have to finish the job by demanding accountability and responsibility all the way up.
“And most importantly, why hasn’t there been any higher level accountability? Who is the general/admiral/Pentagon official relieved of command for this affair?”
Exactly! But oh no, Management is NEVER responsible for their own mistakes.
Language Police here: not just “accountability” — CONSEQUENCES.
Thank you.
(pssst – you folks down in Ft. meade get that?)
I’m an old school data protocol guy for the most part, i.e., spent lots of time in rooms with no windows and armed guards outside the door, and I’m astounded at the ease of access to the quantity and variety of highly classified materials.
It’s unthinkable to me. People working on the same widget couldn’t share classified documents unless the requestor had a specific need-to-know. Said another way, someone working on an engine for a black aircraft couldn’t automatically share classified engine specifications with the same aircraft’s armament designers.
And Snowden’s claim to have a list of deployed assets, e.g., moles, in situ defectors, is an extraordinary breach of security. Unprecedented and extremely dangerous.
Narcissism is grounds for mercy? Yeesh.
Hey, redneck, the silence you heard before and after don’t-ask-don’t-tell was repealed, that was because homosexual military people sucked it up and served honorably. As far as I am concerned, the don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy should not have been repealed, but extended to everybody.
DA-DT, if applied to Bradley Manning, would not have changed the outcome. He was too mentally unstable to serve in such a position and his sexual orientation was a factor. His own lawyers made that part of their argument to mitigate his sentence.
Look, let’s not get into an argument about gays serving honorably in the military. They have honorably served since the 1700s. That being said, I do believe that soldiers with that orientation should be considered with more scrutiny when the position requires a high security classification.
So when does the government start prosecuting all those NSA data thieves for unconstitutionally stealing the secrets of the American people?
*laugh* Like that will ever happen.
And when will Pat ‘Leaky’ Leahy be prosecuted? I guess that Depends.
And with ‘early release’, he’s out in 1/3rd, IOW 11 & 1/2 years, minus 3 for ‘time served’ = 8 & 1/2 years from now, at age 33 & 1/2.
At which point he will write book and go on the lecture circuit.
Hell, he’ll probably run for Congress and get elected some damn place.
He’ll probably be given a teaching gig in some prestigious eastern Ivy League college.
‘Gender identity disorder and narcissistic personality traits…’ Is this describing Manning or Obama?
And have we begun working on putting Obama behind bars for 35 years?
So basically he could have been sentenced for up to 90 years, the prosecutors asked for 60 and he gets 35 with the possibility of being up out in less than 12 (less than 9 with time served). It kind of makes you wonder if this case was prosecuted as zealously as it should have been. I mean it’s not like the administration has been shy about trying to influence how military cases are prosecuted (e.g. sexual assault in the military) or refusing to zealously defend laws it disagrees with (e.g. DOMA) or even refusing to enforce the laws that it passes when they might inconvenience their electoral ambitions (e.g. ObamaCare, telling military contractors not to notify their employees that they might be laid off because of the sequester). Not to knock the military officers who prosecuted this traitor but ultimately they operate under the direction of a civilian administration who has proven themselves to be utterly unfaithful when it comes to their duties of upholding the law in our country.
With American secrets so easily accessed and removed, it is quite feasible that Russia and China already have ALL our information. How much blackmail is already going on? Could this explain why the left is so bold about ignoring our constitution, and enriching their supporters?
RT America … isn’t that “Russia Times … America?” Al Jazeera is having trouble getting advertisers, perhaps Russia Times could pick up Al Gore’s old channel on the cheap. RT strikes me as more biased than our own media, though it can offer a different perspective perhaps, like the Keiser Report does, but Keiser was also a “player”.
RT says the sentence was unjustifiably harsh, and that America has not answered for the crimes Manning revealed. No word on whether RT believes all those sent to the gulags in Russia for speaking freely received “unjustifiably harsh” treatment.
Without Snowden you wouldn’t know about FIVE EYES.
Five Eyes are the agreements between: New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA. It explains how the FBI was able to direct New Zealand’a police to confiscate Kim Dotcom’s MegaUpload.
Snowden has also taught many Internet users how data is collected. And, even encryptions often fail. GroKlaw closed down. Lavabit closed down. And, Americans have learned we’ve got SECRET COURTS.
Sure, we’re told it’s all about terrorism. Instead, we got the Patriot Act. Because Evil really knows how to game stuff by calling it in Orwellian fashion … something it is nt.
We also know the whole top level is incompetent! (Including our courts.)
Meanwhile, the USA got some sort of “head’s up” that Glenn Greenwald’s boyfriend was “transiting” Heathrow. And, that all airports have this “no man land … where you’re not actually IN the country … The airport contains “free space.” And, a “can do anything it wants.” David Cameron is defending this.
And, in England, very slowly … British ‘subjects’ are waking up. What will they do? I don’t know. But politicians are artists at fabrications and lying …
So there’s a good chance what’s been lost is trust.
Ahead, will England “dangle” the stolen electronics, plus two brand new watches” taken from David Miranda … as something David Miranda needs to “pick up in person?”
Whatever information Laura Poitras sent for “Glenn Greenwald’s eyes” … are her work-in-progress film on the evidence in Snowden’s treasure trove.
Some cities are safer than others.
You’ve learned that Hong Kong, though under Chinese control, is a very open “free speech” society. As well as business hub. And, the locals will work hard at keeping things this way.
Turns out Berlin is another safe city. Laura Poitras scoped out an apartment in Berlin which she considers safe. And, I don’t think Obama can push Merkel around. So this will also be a safety hub for free speech.
The Five Eyes are no longer able to keep their secrets on data gathering.
Microsoft is also up to its ying yang. When you buy anything from Microsoft’s products line it’s security has been compromised.
Ed Snowden says that leaps and bounds are occurring with greater frequency. And, it is possible … security conscious people (not just Kim Dotcom) … will be scouting for sites where the Americans have no reach at all. Including Russia. Which has been given one hell of a business opportunity!
Sure. America can become a police state. But what about jobs in other sectors? What about small businesses? What about the need to have “open forums” that are not open to government intrusion. Or to secret courts?
Why was Ed Snowden hired? He had more skills than anybody “over him.”
If young Americans don’t want to work for the government. And, they’re skilled in their knowledge of computers … could there be a brain drain … as the best seek work outside of the borders of all the FIVE EYES?
Did Heathrow become an avoidable transit stop?
How many lawyers are proud of the addition of Secret Courts to our judicial system? See a problem? Or are there people stupid enough to just consider this a “new” business opportunity? Nine hours, at billable hours, sweeps in money that “white shoe” firsm wouldn’t mind jumping into. Even if it smells like sh!t on their shinola.
The 5 eyes is well known – Established after ww2. However Canada & NZ are on the outer since the 70s . Canada due to its pm Trudeau & as a magnet for anti American Americans. NZ due to its anti nuclear anything.
Even through differing governments the other 3 are core western intelligence monitoring / exchange centres.
When there are parades and legislation, homosexuality is a “normal, natural and healthy” lifestyle. When there’s a defense to mount for a war traitor it’s a “gender identity disorder.”
What bothers me is that the PC culture didn’t allow Manning’s superiors to pull his clearance even though it was indicated any more than Hasan’s superiors didn’t nail him before he went on his shooting spree. Frankly, because of PC, all minorities are suspect simply because no one has the cajones to challenge damaging behavior.