Bradley Manning
I went to the BBC for some straight reporting: Manning convicted on most charges.
The thing is that under the UCMJ he was guilty of most charges, and, in fact, had already pled guilty to ten of the charges. The important bit is that he was found innocent of the “Aiding the enemy” charge, which was a creation in the minds of the prosecutors and the most serious charge against him.
He was not convicted of Espionage, he was convicted of releasing classified information, which is a section of what is known as the “Espionage Law”, and miscellaneous military offenses [‘conduct unbecoming’ sorts of trash charges].
The ‘transcriber’ at Corrente located an interview with Daniel Ellsberg about the Manning verdict that is worth reading. Mr Ellsberg has been there, done that, and notes that the treatment of Bradley Manning is the reason Edward Snowden didn’t stay in the US to face charges.
Next up is the sentencing and one word could be crucial to Bradley Manning. That word is concurrent. If the judge rules that the sentences will be served ‘concurrently’, it means that he won’t be in prison longer than the longest sentence for any individual count. The over 100 years that is being quoted in the media would be the possible length if the sentences were served ‘consecutively’. Manning has already been in custody for over three years, so he has been serving a sentence without being convicted of anything.
10 comments
Manning could have only been convicted of “aiding the enemy” if the American people were the enemy, since that’s who he released the information to.
By and large I think the judge did as the UCMJ requires for military personnel who leak classified information. She did it pretty much “by the book” as far as I can tell, as versus all the hyperventilation from the various sides of the Mannnig story. The hyperbolic “aiding the enemy” or even those calling for “treason!” were blowing it out their nose, there was no evidence of intent necessary for those charges — Manning had never attempted to contact “the enemy” (who is, uhm, who? Remember, that’s classified 😉 ) much less had a direct witness to him aiding this mysterious classified “enemy” as would be required for a treason charge, and there was no reason for such a charge other than posturing and an attempt to snow the judge. The judge wasn’t snowed.
Well, he did try to contact the New York Times before he hooked up with Wikileaks … 😈
There was no way that the judge could have done things any differently under the UCMJ and the existing guilty pleas, but I have some hope that the Colonel will go for ‘concurrent’ because many of the charges are really duplicates except for the area covered by the documents, i.e. separate charges for Iraq, Afghanistan, and the State Department cables although it was the same conduct.
The defense can get into the torture at Quantico and other misconduct by prosecutors in the sentencing phase, as I assume they will do on their appeal.
While I don’t expect it, the Colonel could make everyone’s live miserable by sentencing Manning to time served. That would start a firestorm, but it would probably preclude an appeal which would save the government from worrying about even more damage.
I cannot bring myself to ignore Manning’s treatment in the year (actually more) that he was held without charge and physically and psychologically abused by his captors. For the treatment he received, he might as well have been a resident of some tinpot dictatorship. Hmm… come to think of it, …
I also cannot bring myself to ignore Zero’s campaign speech praising whistleblowers for their part in improving the government. That was then. This is now…
That confinement is one of the reasons that I think the judge may go with “time served” as a sentence. I don’t think the military, as an institution, wants this to continue and “time served” would make it very tough for a defense team to want to appeal.
Manning needs a lot of rehab that he is not going to get in a military prison, and would get if he were released. The issues raised need to be appealed to the Supreme Court, but I’m not sure Manning can stand much more time in confinement.
1,274 days credited by the judge to his sentence already. That’s about 3 1/2 years.
My guess is that Manning will get 10 years (all the sentences served simultaneously), be credited that 3 1/2 years, and be a free man (well, out on probation) in 1 1/2 years. I have no real foundation for that other than by looking at what this judge has done so far. She’s thus far gone pretty much “by the book”, and that’s the usual sentence for someone who has disclosed classified information to the media.
There are those who say Manning is a hero and shouldn’t have to serve more time. But that’s not how the UCMJ works.
The real question is how the politics are going to play out. Getting him out of the military system as soon as possible would be the best move for the military, but the Congress is going to have a fit regardless.
Manning sure as hell isn’t going to get any help at Leavenworth, and the military caused a lot of his problems while he was at Quantico. I remember the short run of that crap from SERE training and no one had a problem referring to it as a form of torture. We were even told what the point was, in order to combat the effects. I wonder if they played with the salt intake to induce dehydration, which they did in SERE.
Rumsfeld and Bush really screwed up the military, and Obama hasn’t helped.
That’s another argument for the 10 year sentence — the politics. Keep him in prison for long enough for notoriously short-attention-span Congress to forget about him, and let him out quietly in 18 months, and Congress is not going to have a clue because they’ll think he’s in prison for the next 10 years (not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier up there on Capital Hill). It’s not often that you can both be by the book *and* slip something by the politicians, and if it works out that way here, so much the better as far as the military is concerned.
If it is appealed, there is a better than even chance that a re-trial will be ordered, and a slight chance the whole thing will be thrown out based on the time it took before trial.
There are so many variables, that we may never know what was important, unless the judge decides to explain her thinking.
IMHO, Bradly Manning broke the Military Laws, and he admitted so, whether out of conscience or simple practicality we’ll probably never know. And he deserved to be tried & sentenced for doing so. He also broke the Military code, and his *word* (which he gave when he took the Oath and legally signed up). He had legitimate avenues he could have pursued, and he chose not to. When i served, and was given orders I disagreed with, I talked to the unit WO. It’s his job to decide on such disputes and make some recommendation to the Company Commander, which is what happened in my case and my unit was told to stand down. Certainly, it was a different circumstance, and it was in my case, a case of poor task choice (akin to trying to use a chain saw to cut twigs). Still, Manning had that option. If I had simply gone over the head of my CO directly to Command, I would have been in trouble because I’d had disobeyed the chain of command during a legal military campaign (not war, because it was a ‘Police Action’). It’s why WO’s & Master Sergent’s, exist. They are the mechanism through which a soldier can legitimately get around the ‘chain of command’ issue. And it is the only legitimate way. If that fails… well, then you have a very tough choice. Follow the orders, or break the rules/laws and be damned. But at least you can show that you did try to do things properly and tried every legal option and gotten nowhere.
As for the whole “traitor” or “aiding the enemy” , that was always a load of pure fiction. Also, the treatment of Manning also should be tried before a tribunal, and if it’s proved to be true, those who ordered and carried out the such bad treatment should be held accountable. But I have no illusions that will happen in the USA today.
Accountability and responsibility is all a one way street today in the USA, and it’s becoming that way here and elsewhere, though it’s not as bad so far. Anyone who joins the Military today is either a complete fool or someone who wants to get to to top and gain the *rewards* (ie. Get a place at the Washington feed trough).
In the end, Manning had legitimate reasons for concern, but he handled his response badly. And that’s what he’s paying the price for. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the concerns he had do seem legitimate.
Because of the treatment of Manning, it’s no wonder that Snowden decided to just run. He had no legitimate choice in the USA. Even his father Lonnie, who was always considered a patriot and is a retired distinguished Coast Guard officer, believed his Son has done the right thing. That alone should be ringing alarm bells all over the USA, but especially in Washington DC. But it will not be taken seriously at all, because the Washington Machine believes it can withstand anything and business will always go on as usual. Nothing will change until the people get of their asses and force change. Simply Voting no longer will make any difference. The Machine always win’s in the end.
Yeah, Bradly made some poor decisions. But he was also severely mistreated and had his rights trampled. You can argue that he mad those bad decisions for the right reasons, and maybe that is so. But he had some legitimate options, or he should have had. If he didn’t, then the question that must be asked is… Why? Why didn’t he feel he had any legitimate options? The Military system must be designed to have those *checks and balances* in place, or it breaks down. Much like the entire US Judicial system in fact.
Bradley Manning was flakier than a croissant and had more issues than Time magazine. He was an E-3, Private First Class, who was working about two stripes above his pay grade. He should not have had a clearance; he should not have been in the military, and he damn sure should not have been in a war zone. He was a liability to everyone around him. The fact that he was where he was shows a total failure on the part of the NCOs and officers in his chain of command.
When he questioned the legality of what he was doing and was told that legality wasn’t important because it was generating good numbers for the unit, he was put in an impossible position. The military system failed him. He could not get answer through the chain of command.
He pled guilty because he knew he violated laws. but where are the charges against the NCOs and officers who failed to do their duty?
He shouldn’t have just grabbed everything he could and dumped it, because some of what was dumped exposed sources, but he wasn’t looking at it, he was just grabbing it and dumping it.
Manning had a meltdown, and none of the people who should have seen it, did, because they were worthless and incompetent. One good NCO in Manning’s chain of command could have prevented this from ever happening, but no one above him was worth their paycheck.