Forum Post: Start Getting Shit Done - Demand the Release of Private Bradley Manning!
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 5, 2011, 8:38 p.m. EST by ARLIFE
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When asked about how the Department of Defense was treating Private Bradley Manning, who leaked classified documents to Wikileaks, (now dismissed) State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley responded to their treatment “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” He goes on to state, "None the less Bradley Manning is in the right place." No, imprisoned in the brig at US Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, awaiting trial is not the right place for Private Manning.
Offense - Private Manning broke his obligation to the US military by leaking confidential information. The consequences of his actions resulted in no conclusive or foreseeable physical harm to any American. His offense is that he exposed some of our military’s very dirty laundry.
Analysis - Private Manning shed light on a hole in intelligence security, exposed questionable decisions and skeptical politics within our military. He shared with us what our government doesn’t want us to know. Naturally, Private Manning lost the trust of our military by sharing the classified information with Wikileaks. However, Private Manning isn’t a terrorist and shouldn’t be treated like one, but rather a hero. Who else dared to defy military command by keeping their alliegance with the American people? We have a right to know the good, the bad, and the ugly, because we’re funding it.
Action - Start demanding the release of Private Manning. His actions are admirable. He’s a leader in this movement. Help him.
Further reading. http://www.bradleymanning.org/
www.arlife.us Send a message. The conversation has begun. The ideas are evolving. The change is inevitable.
this is completely irrelevant to what we are working for.
I not only agree that this is irrelevant but even more importantly could be very detrimental to the movement. I can't imagine that this stand comes anywhere close to representing the 99%.
I agree... this is a total non-sequitur. Why occupy wall street for this?
Seriously? Government accountability is not one of your values? My apologies for the mistake.
There are too many wrongs to right all at once. Be careful not to accumulate unnecessary baggage from all of the other groups/causes that will dilute the power of the movement to get money out of politics, and remove voter suppression. The rest will come.
Wow, still on about Bradley Manning? This guy's imprisonment must be becoming a cash cow by now
What Bradley Manning did was the product of a troubled mind. I have sympathy regarding his struggles but his actions were reckless not heroic.If the info released had been carefully selected to only expose clear corruption it might have been courageous,but he indiscriminately dumped massive amounts of info not as an act of conscience but as an act of personal vengeance.Even if he had acted responsibly and with genuine moral conviction this particular case would still have nothing to do with corporate corruption. I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT THIS COULD END UP UNDERMINING Occupy Wall Street IN SERIOUS WAYS.
I appreciate Manning for his sacrifice. But he knew what he did was going to get him in trouble. He knew he might go to Jail.
Believe me, I would represent him Pro Bono in a heart beat, but that is the most narrow sighted demand that anyone has made yet. Once we fix corruption and democracy, then we can possibly instate new laws that make his actions legal. MAYBE, if the majority want to.
the military should not have the right to secrecy
in some cases, maybe.
but that implies you should know about every CI they have in every corner of the world. and if you can find that data, so can the rest of the world. yet you view that as a positive thing?
would you like the local police department to mail you a weekly list of the CIs they're working as well?
simply to post it publicly
he needs to be hung for treason.
The correct usage is "hanged," if you actually believe that doing your patriotic duty of exposing corruption and wrongdoing constitutes treason (which it doesn't). Do you think Daniel Ellsberg should be hanged?
i suggest you look up treason and what this knucklehead did with wikileaks. as far as ellsberg did he expose vital US assets? were the assets he exposed put at risk? if the answers to these questions is yes, then yes he should have been hanged also.
I know what treason is. The founders of this country all committed treason in case you forgot. You need to cut some government propaganda out of your diet.
that is wrong. they did not commit treason. they were in a state of rebellion. there is a difference. even the crown recognized that fact. trust me if i could cut more government out of my life i would, but with the adminstration that we have now its not possible.
They committed treason against the Crown by just listing their grievances. My point is only that it doesn't do any good to simply be patriotic. You have to question everything the government says and does. You need to examine it. People that draw attention to wrongdoing in government are the biggest patriots of all.
as a matter of law they were not committing treason. they were in a state of rebellion. this was the reason the crown acted in the ways that it did.i agree with you about not being simply patriotic and questioning government. 100% agreement. but this still doesnt answer the question about manning and his actions with wikileaks.