Today is National Whistleblower Day and the day that Manning will be sentenced to life

[Luminous Animal]

in prison.


Glenn Greenwald
The Guardian, Wednesday 14 December 2011 16.00 EST

Bradley Manning deserves a medal
The prosecution of the whistleblower and alleged WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning is an exercise in intimidation, not justice

Even Robert Gates, the Pentagon chief, mocked alarmism over the diplomatic cables leak as "significantly overwrought", dismissing its impact as "fairly modest". Manning's lawyer is seeking internal government documents that, he insists, concluded there was no meaningful harm to US diplomatic relations from the release of any documents. None of the leaked documents were classified at the highest level of secrecy – top secret – but rather bore only low-level classification.

By contrast, the leaks Manning allegedly engineered have generated enormous benefits: precisely the benefits Manning, if the allegations against him are true, sought to achieve. According to chat logs purportedly between Manning and the informant who turned him in, the private decided to leak these documents after he became disillusioned with the Iraq war. He described how reading classified documents made him, for the first time, aware of the breadth of the corruption and violence committed by his country and allies.

He explained that he wanted the world to know what he had learned: "I want people to see the truth … regardless of who they are … because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public." When asked by the informant why he did not sell the documents to a foreign government for profit, Manning replied that he wanted the information to be publicly known in order to trigger "worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms".

There can be no doubt that these vital goals have been achieved. When WikiLeaks was awarded Australia's most prestigious journalism award last month, the awarding foundation described how these disclosures created "more scoops in a year than most journalists could imagine in a lifetime".

[Savannahmann]

1. Sadly,

The Government hasn't yet approved the definition of Irony.

[think]

2. Might as well be let a torturer go free day....

[Luminous Animal]

3. The corporate media, which largely ignored Manning, has shown up in droves...

The Rancid Honeytrap ‏@RancidTarzie 18m
The liberal media isn't showing up for Manning at the last minute arbitrarily. The only thing that matters news-wise, is that he lost.

https://twitter.com/RancidTarzie/status/362241945449398272

[Catherina]

4. The hypocrisy takes your breath away n/t

[Luminous Animal]

5. If found not guilty of Aiding the Enemy and guilty of everything else, he faces 154 years in jail.

Nathan Fuller ‏@nathanLfuller 2m
If #Manning is found not guilty of Aiding the Enemy and guilty of everything else, he faces 154 years in jail.

https://twitter.com/nathanLfuller/status/362251608521850882

[Catherina]

6. If you've never listened to Manning's statement of why he leaked, you really need to.

If you've never listened to Manning's statement of why he leaked, you really need to.

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/blog/2013/03/fpf-publishes-leaked-audio-of-bradley-mannings-statement

[Luminous Animal]

7. CHARGE OF "AIDING THE ENEMY" IS VAGUE.. CARRIES THE DEATH PENALTY.. COULD APPLY TO CIVILIANS AS WELL

The judge, Col. Denise Lind, asked the prosecutors a brief but revealing question: Would you have pressed the same charges if Manning had given the documents not to WikiLeaks but directly to the New York Times?


The prosecutor’s answer was simple: “Yes Ma'am.”

The question was crisp and meaningful, not courtroom banter. The answer, in turn, was dead serious. I should know. I was the expert witness whose prospective testimony they were debating. The judge will apparently allow my testimony, so if the prosecution decides to pursue the more serious charges to which Manning did not plead guilty, I will explain at trial why someone in Manning's shoes in 2010 would have thought of WikiLeaks as a small, hard-hitting, new media journalism outfit—a journalistic “Little Engine that Could” that, for purposes of press freedom, was no different from the New York Times. The prosecutor's “Yes Ma'am,” essentially conceded that core point of my testimony in order to keep it out of the trial. That's not a concession any lawyer makes lightly.

But that “Yes Ma'am” does something else: It makes the Manning prosecution a clear and present danger to journalism in the national security arena. The guilty plea Manning offered could subject him to twenty years in prison—more than enough to deter future whistleblowers. But the prosecutors seem bent on using this case to push a novel and aggressive interpretation of the law that would arm the government with a much bigger stick to prosecute vaguely-defined national security leaks, a big stick that could threaten not just members of the military, but civilians too.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112554#

[Catherina]

8. Slaughter 19 civilians? No problem. No punishment. Blow the whistle? Torture & life imprisonment n/t

[Luminous Animal]

9. Yep. Marine gets no jail time for Haditha killings

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57365179/marine-gets-no-jail-time-for-haditha-killings/

Wuterich, 31, told the court that his guilty plea should not suggest that he believes his men behaved badly or that they acted in any way that was dishonorable to their country. He said he ordered his men to "shoot first, ask questions later" so they would not hesitate in attacking the enemy, but he never intended to harm any civilians.

The plea deal that halted Wuterich's manslaughter trial has sparked outrage in Iraq, where many said it proves the United States does not hold its military accountable for its actions.

In Iraq, residents of the Euphrates river town of Haditha were angered by the fact that not one of the eight Marines initially charged will be convicted of manslaughter. A survivor of the killings, Awis Fahmi Hussein, showed his scars from being hit by a bullet in the back.

"I was expecting that the American judiciary would sentence this person to life in prison and that he would appear and confess in front of the whole world that he committed this crime, so that America could show itself as democratic and fair," he said.

[Catherina]

10. "Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence."

"Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

[Catherina]

11. Democracy Now Livestream here

Democracy Now Livestream here: http://www.livestream.com/democracynow

[Catherina]

12. ACQUITTED OF AIDING THE ENEMY... still waiting for the rest n/t

[Luminous Animal]

14. So far, 7 guilty verdicts with a 10 year max sentence.

https://twitter.com/carwinb

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

13. KPFA just said "Not Guilty" on aiding the enemy... nt

[Catherina]

15. Verdict here. Manning faces 136 year Max . Sentencing to begin tomorrow

Alexa O'Brien ‏@carwinb 4m

Aiding the Enemy-- NOT GUILTY

Spec 1, Charge II Wanton Pub. GUILTY #Manning

Spec II, Charge II GUILTY to his LIO plea for 793(e) Collateral Murder #Manning

Spec 3, Charge II CIA Red Cell Memo 793(e) GUILTY #Manning (10 years MAX)

Spec 4, Charge II Iraq War Logs Database 641 GUILTY (10 years MAX) #Manning

Spec 5, Charge II Iraq War Logs Espionage 793(e) GUILTY (10 years) #Manning

Spec 6, Charge II Afghan War Diray Database 641 GUILTY (10 years) #Manning

Spec 7, Charge II Afghan War Diary Espionage 793(e) GUILTY #Manning (10 Years MAX)

Spec 8, Charge II GTMO Files Database 641 GUILTY #Manning (10 Years MAX)

Spec 9, Charge II GTMO File 793(e) Espionage GUILTY #Manning (10 Years MAX)

Spec 10, Charge II Farah Records 793(e) GUILTY #Manning (10 Years Max)

Spec 11, Charge II Garani Video 793(e) NOT GUILTY #Manning

Spec 12, Charge II Cablegate database 641 GUILTY #Manning (10 Years MAX)

Spec 13, Charge II Cablegate CFAA Exceed Auth Access GUILTY #Manning (10 Years)

Spec 14, Charge II Reykjavik 13 GUILTY to his LIO ('knowingly accessing') #Manning (2 years MAX)

Spec 15, Charge II USACIC Memo on WikiLeaks 793(e) GUILTY #Manning (10 tears MAX)

Spec 16, Charge II Microsoft Exchange GAL 641 GUILTY #Manning (10 Years MAX)

Charge III (Article 92) Spec 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 GUILTY (2 years MAX each, TOTAL MAX 10 years) #Manning

Spec 1, Charge II Wanton Publication (Which #Manning was found guilty of is 2 years MAX-- see above)

Spec 2, Charge II Guilty to his LIO plea for 793(e) Collateral Murder #Manning <-- See above this is 2 years MAX)

[Luminous Animal]

16. And more...

Spec 12, Charge II Cablegate database 641 GUILTY #Manning (10 Years MAX)

Spec 13, Charge II Cablegate CFAA Exceed Auth Access GUILTY #Manning (10 Years)

Spec 14, Charge II Reykjavik 13 GUILTY to his LIO ('knowingly accessing') #Manning (2 years MAX)

[Luminous Animal]

18. Thank you for doing this.

[Catherina]

21. Thank you for being my friend and activist partner

It's important for us all to know we're not alone. On the contrary...

[Solly Mack]

19. Thanks!

[Catherina]

22. A shameful day for us. (You're welcome) n/t

[nobodyspecial]

17. Can't wait to see the spin on this

[Catherina]

20. State Dept: We've seen the #Manning verdict, no comment, we refer you to the Dept of Defense n/t

[Luminous Animal]

24. Chicken shits. Obama can proclaim him guilty prior to trial but State

can't bring themselves to comment afterwards.

[Luminous Animal]

23. he was spying on the American government for the American public

Tim DeChristopher ‏@dechristopher 9m
#Manning convicted of espionage. In other words, he was spying on the American government for the American public. #Thanks

https://twitter.com/dechristopher/status/362262853127897091

[Catherina]

26. He told us of the crimes committed IN OUR NAME

so we won't sit around like pro-whatevers one day cluelessly asking "why do they hate us".

What a total travesty of justice.

[Luminous Animal]

25. Via Wikileaks

Bradley Manning's convictions today include 5 courts of espionage. A very serious new precedent for supplying information the press.

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/362264678358990848