General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA reminder: The Guantanamo and torture memo leaks were not Manning
Those leaks were not by Manning, and for that matter were not Assange either (they were direct to the NYT). The only connection between Manning and the Gitmo/torture dumps was a speculation by Reuters.
Another reminder: there is still an ongoing investigation into a very high-level leak source that worried DoJ enough for them to subpoena phone records from the cloakroom and press gallery (you may connect those dots, or not, as you wish).
But as this court martial goes on, I think it's important to remember:
* Manning did not reveal the information about torture clearance at Guantanamo or the "rainbow" prisons
* Manning did not reveal information about the decision making ahead of the Iraq invasion
* The government alleges Manning did release several year's worth of State Department cables, which did name dissidents State had made contact with, some of whom were then jailed by their governments
* The government alleges Manning did release a series of memos and powerpoint presentations about the operational progress of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars
* The government alleges Manning did release a video of a helicopter attack that confirmed the DoD's report that the rules of engagement were followed
* The government alleges Manning did leave a backdoor into SIPRnet, the secure communications protocol the DoD, State, and other agencies use to communicate with each other.
* From an evidentiary standpoint, since they don't have Assange, unless they have Manning forensically the entire case rests on Lamo, who is hardly a trustworthy source (and his role in this whole thing remains very under-reported, IMO)
MADem
(135,425 posts)The State Department cables ALONE are enough to put him in very deep shit.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)I have no idea what he is alleged to have done to SIPRnet, but it's essentially a point-to-point system which means if he compromised his node, none of the peer nodes can be trusted about access control and logging. Yes, this is like killing your parents and claiming mercy as an orphan, but it could be a legitimate problem here (though trusting Lamo, an acknowledged cracker, is a much bigger issue).
MADem
(135,425 posts)steal anyone else's--that would be too smart!
And if he worked in a SCIF, every one I've been in had some level of video surveillance, so he couldn't claim someone stole HIS card, either...
I think they've got him. I don't think they'll hang him, but I do think he'll do some serious time.
Niceguy1
(2,467 posts)He did enough to do some serious time without lamo.
PFC Manning is no angel.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)And, agreed; I'm no fan of Manning.
Niceguy1
(2,467 posts)whistleblower procedure.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)We Steal Secrets: State Agitprop" (Chris Hedges on Bradley Manning)
by Chris Hedges
Is the most important thing about Martin Luther King Jr. the fact that he was a serial adulterer? Did Kings infidelities invalidate his life and struggle? Do the supposed defects of Assange and Manning negate what they did? Gibney would have us believe they do. Manning, in a just world, would be a witness for the prosecution of those who committed war crimes. Assange would be traveling around the United States collecting First Amendment awards.
The persecution of Manning and Assange is not an isolated act. It is part of a terrifying assault against our most important civil liberties and a free press. Manning and Assange are the canaries in the mineshaft. They did not seek to sell the documents that WikiLeaks published or to profit personally from their release. They are part of the final, desperate battle under way to stymie the security and surveillance states imposition of corporate totalitarianism. They and others who attempt to expose the crimes of the statesuch as Jeremy Hammond, who admitted in a plea agreement last week that he had hacked into the private intelligence firm Stratfor and who faces up to 10 years in prisonwill be ruthlessly persecuted. And the traditional media, which printed the secret cables provided by WikiLeaks and then callously abandoned Manning and Assange, will be next.
The Associated Press recently saw the state seize two months of its emails and phone logs, and the government has admitted seizing Fox News reporter James Rosens phone records. Half a dozen government whistle-blowers have been charged by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act. It is becoming harder and harder to peer into the inner workings of power. And once there are no Mannings or Assanges, once no one is willing to take risks to expose the crimes of empire, there will be no freedom of the press.
The fundamental conceit of We Steal Secrets is that Assanges concern about the possibility of being arrested by U.S. authorities is a product of paranoia and self-delusion. The vast array of intergovernment forcesat least a dozendedicated to arresting Assange, extraditing him and destroying WikiLeaks is, Gibney would have us believe, fictional. I detailed these forces in The Death of Truth. The refusal to acknowledge the massive campaign against Assange is the most disturbing aspect of the film. There are numerous indications, including in leaked Stratfor emails, that a sealed indictment against Assange is in place. But Gibney refuses to buy it.
Had the secret-leaker become the secret-keeper, more and more fond of mysteries? Gibney asks in the film. The biggest mystery of all was the role of the United States. Over two years after the first leak, no charges had been filed by the U.S. Assange claimed that the U.S. was biding its time, waiting for him to go to Sweden, but there was no proof.
-----
Adrian Lamo, who worked as an FBI informant, faking a friendship with Manning to sell him out, is given a perch in the film to wring his hands like Judas over how agonizing it was for him to turn in Manning. He did it, he assures us, to keep the country safe, although no one has ever been able to point to any loss of life caused by the leak of the secret documents.
I care more about Bradley than many of his supporters do. And I had to betray that trust for the sake of all of the people that he put in danger, Lamo says tearfully. It is one of the most cloying moments in the movie.
MUCH MORE AND WORTH THE READ AT:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/03-11
Bodhi BloodWave
(2,346 posts)Is the most important thing about Martin Luther King Jr. the fact that he was a serial adulterer? Did Kings infidelities invalidate his life and struggle? Do the supposed defects of Assange and Manning negate what they did?
short answer: no, their defects does not negate what any of them did, on the flip side however none of what they did should be used to give them a free pass for any potential wrongdoings they have done or will do