ACLU on Manning Sentence: "Something is seriously wrong with our justice system"

[bigtree]

________________________

ACLU Comment on Bradley Manning Sentence

August 21, 2013

NEW YORK – A military court-martial today sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for giving classified material to WikiLeaks. Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, had this reaction:

"When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system. A legal system that doesn't distinguish between leaks to the press in the public interest and treason against the nation will not only produce unjust results, but will deprive the public of critical information that is necessary for democratic accountability. This is a sad day for Bradley Manning, but it's also a sad day for all Americans who depend on brave whistleblowers and a free press for a fully informed public debate."

https://www.aclu.org/free-speech/aclu-comment-bradley-manning-sentence

[MotherPetrie]

1. They got that right.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Meanwhile.......

George W. Bush
George W. Bush was president when the U.S. invaded Iraq based on faulty intelligence, tortured terror prisoners and conducted extraordinary renditions around the world.

"Enhanced interrogation," a Bush administration euphemism for torture, was approved at the highest level. A "principals committee" composed of Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft signed off on the methods.

"There are solid grounds to investigate Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Tenet for authorizing torture and war crimes," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, when the group released a report called "Getting Away With Torture" in 2011.

Dick Cheney
As Bush's vice president, Cheney pushed the nation over to the "dark side," as he called it, in the war on terror.

The U.S. used extraordinary renditions to swoop up terror suspects and send them to repressive regimes in places like Syria and Libya for torture. Cheney was the key driver in producing the faulty intelligence that led the U.S. into war in Iraq. And he steadfastly defended the CIA's use of water-boarding and other torture tactics on U.S. prisoners.

Cheney "fears being tried as a war criminal," according to Colin Powell's former chief of staff Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, but he never has been.

Donald Rumsfeld
One of the planners of the Iraq War, Rumsfeld steadfastly maintained while Defense Secretary under Bush that U.S. soldiers did not have an obligation to stop torture being used by their Iraqi counterparts. He also approved of "stripping prisoners naked, hooding them, exposing prisoners to extremes of heat and cold, and slamming them up against walls" at Guantanamo.

While deployed to Iraq, Manning discovered that Iraqi soldiers had arrested members of a political group for producing a pamphlet called "Where Did the Money Go?" decrying corruption in the cabinet of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"‘i immediately took that information and *ran* to the officer to explain what was going on," Manning wrote in the chat logs. "he didn’t want to hear any of it … he told me to shut up and explain how we could assist the FPs in finding *MORE* detainees."

George Tenet and CIA torturers
Tenet was the CIA chief who told Bush that the case for war with Iraq was a "slam dunk." Under his watch, the CIA waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Further down the chain of command at the spy agency, lower-level officers have escaped prosecution for killing a prisoner in Iraq and one in Afghanistan in CIA custody. Attorney General Eric Holder in 2012 ruled out prosecuting anyone responsible for those deaths.

In sharp contrast, former CIA agent John Kiriakou is currently serving a 30-month sentence for revealing to reporters the names of interrogators involved in detainee abuse.

Abu Ghraib higher-ups
Although low-level soldiers like former Army Reserve Specialist Lynndie England were court-martialed for their role in detainee abuse at this notorious prison in Iraq, graphically illustrated in photos, the only officer prosecuted in the case had his conviction tossed out.

A 2009 Senate Armed Services Committee report found that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were not the result of a few unmonitored bad apples but rather the direct result of "enhanced interrogation" practices approved of by officials much higher up in the Bush administration.

[City Lights]

3. Indeed. nt

[Atman]

4. I was afraid to rec this post.

They're heeeeeerere!

" Agent Mike!"

[one_voice]

5. This was the largest..

leak of US Intelligence in history. Do we know everything that was leaked?

K&R

[ljm2002]

13. One thing we do know...

...is that many of those classified documents did not need to be classified and many should never have been classified. The video had been requested through a FOIA request by Reuters so they could find out what happened when their journalist was killed. The military claimed it had no information on the matter.

So for me, the argument about how large the leak was is irrelevant. What we should be asking is how many documents are classified purely for CYA reasons (which should be illegal if it isn't already). And we should be asking how many crimes were revealed in those documents. That video shows some crimes, indisputably: since even if you accept that the helicopter gunners mistook the reporter's telephoto lens for an RPG, they still shot and killed people who were already wounded and incapacitated, and they still shot and killed people attempting to help. Both of these are war crimes according to the Geneva Conventions, to which we are a signatory nation.

It would be naive in the extreme to think those documents don't show other crimes.

Let's have our legal system do a complete and thorough review of those documents and prosecute the guilty parties, then we'll talk about how much time Bradley Manning should do for bringing these matters to light.

[Dragonfli]

21. I bet most were classified "top secret", or maybe none of them. Crimes should remain buried.

Anyone that blows the whistle on crimes being committed are the only true criminals, the rest are modern day heroes that should be protected at all costs, like the honorable Oliver North (a fine figure of a man I must say!).

[one_voice]

33. Did I say all this?

Crimes should remain buried.

Anyone that blows the whistle on crimes being committed are the only true criminals, the rest are modern day heroes that should be protected at all costs, like the honorable Oliver North (a fine figure of a man I must say!).

Funny I don't remember saying any of that.

Or was that not directed at me?

[Dragonfli]

35. No, it was directed at a rather prevalent and absurd group thought I have seen emerging.

You were only convenient as one likely unaware of the influence of this thinking on the issue as a whole as seen in many posts, even yours.

It is an annoying habit I have, I see the seed of an elm tree tossed in the dust and can't help but see the leaves growing that will become the tree, even as people water the seeds without even realizing those seeds are in the dust at their feet.

Annoying, possibly crazy, and definitely weird - I am also mostly harmless...

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R

[Pretzel_Warrior]

7. It's the military justice system. Different animal

I don't agree with length of sentence, but there are consequences when you indiscriminately dump thousands of classified documents into the public arena.

[RobertEarl]

15. Y'know what...

I think the pretzel done kicked your ass.

[NuclearDem]

18. Sadly, no consequences when you commit war crimes and push corporate interests abroad

[DetlefK]

8. What did the Abu Ghraib-torturers get? 2-8 years?

[Catherina]

9. Amnesty calls on President to commute Bradley Manning's sentence, investigate exposed abuses

Instead of fighting tooth and nail to lock him up for decades, the US government should turn its attention to investigating and delivering justice for the serious human rights abuses committed by its officials in the name of countering terror

- Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International, Wed, 21/08/2013

21 August 2013
USA: Commute Bradley Manning’s sentence and investigate the abuses he exposed

President Obama should commute US Army Private Bradley Manning’s sentence to time already served to allow his immediate release, Amnesty International said today.

“Bradley Manning acted on the belief that he could spark a meaningful public debate on the costs of war, and specifically on the conduct of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. His revelations included reports on battlefield detentions and previously unseen footage of journalists and other civilians being killed in US helicopter attacks, information which should always have been subject to public scrutiny,” said Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International.

“Instead of fighting tooth and nail to lock him up for decades, the US government should turn its attention to investigating and delivering justice for the serious human rights abuses committed by its officials in the name of countering terror.”

Some of the materials Manning leaked, published by Wikileaks, pointed to potential human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law by US troops abroad, by Iraqi and Afghan forces operating alongside US forces, and by military contractors. Yet the judge had ruled before the trial that Private Manning would not be able to defend himself by presenting evidence that he was acting in the public interest.

“Manning had already pleaded guilty to leaking information, so for the US to have continued prosecuting him under the Espionage Act, even charging him with ‘aiding the enemy,’ can only be seen as a harsh warning to anyone else tempted to expose government wrongdoing. ” said Brown.

...

“Bradley Manning should be shown clemency in recognition of his motives for acting as he did, the treatment he endured in his early pre-trial detention, and the due process shortcomings during his trial. The President doesn’t need to wait for this sentence to be appealed to commute it; he can and should do so right now,” said Brown.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/usa-commute-bradley-manning-s-sentence-and-investigate-abuses-he-exposed-2013-08-21

[bigtree]

10. so true

. . . for this president, that would mean exposing his own military activities abroad to the same scrutiny.

They'd be forced to account for the mystery transition from Bush's torture and rendition state to whatever Pres. Obama handed over and whatever he's retained of the former 'terror war' regime.

[Catherina]

12. True words my friend. I wish he had processed Snowden's plea more thoughtfully

President Obama had a way out. He still does but the way out is shrinking ever day.

Question:

Jacob Appelbaum @ioerror

Do you believe that the treatment of Binney, Drake and others influenced your path? Do you feel the "system works" so to speak? #AskSnowden
10:00 AM - 17 Jun 2013

Snowden's Answer:

Binney, Drake, Kiriakou, and Manning are all examples of how overly-harsh responses to public-interest whistle-blowing only escalate the scale, scope, and skill involved in future disclosures. Citizens with a conscience are not going to ignore wrong-doing simply because they'll be destroyed for it: the conscience forbids it. Instead, these draconian responses simply build better whistleblowers. If the Obama administration responds with an even harsher hand against me, they can be assured that they'll soon find themselves facing an equally harsh public response.

This disclosure provides Obama an opportunity to appeal for a return to sanity, constitutional policy, and the rule of law rather than men. He still has plenty of time to go down in history as the President who looked into the abyss and stepped back, rather than leaping forward into it. I would advise he personally call for a special committee to review these interception programs, repudiate the dangerous "State Secrets" privilege, and, upon preparing to leave office, begin a tradition for all Presidents forthwith to demonstrate their respect for the law by appointing a special investigator to review the policies of their years in office for any wrongdoing. There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example of transparency.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023033003

[Rex]

25. We've had to call for a fourth bus

So many people under the bus...I'll let these guy elaborate on the root problem...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. It's the 'murkin way. Commit murder go free. Expose murder go to prison.

[Puzzledtraveller]

14. k&r

[ProSense]

16. Manning was not going to escape a long sentence, but

the fact that these guys (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023504843) haven't been held accountable is an atrocity.

The first thing to be said about Bradley Manning's trial is that the entire exercise was unnecessary. There was no real factual dispute, since Manning admitted he had leaked the documents to WikiLeaks, and he offered guilty pleas that would have allowed a sentence of up to 20 years.

Did the government think 20 years in prison was an insufficient punishment for Manning? Maybe so.

But the more likely explanation for the government's refusal of the plea is that it hoped to establish the dangerous precedent that leaks to the press could be equated with "aiding the enemy." Manning's acquittal on that charge was a repudiation of the government's evidence, but not its legal theory, so the government may well take a second bite from that bad apple in a future case.

- more -

https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech-national-security/beyond-bradley-manning-government-has-made-its-point-updated

[OnyxCollie]

29. Obama and the Dems committed an atrocity.

Shocking to hear it coming from you.

This puts you in the Ron Paul 2016 camp.

[Blue_Tires]

17. "Something is seriously wrong with our justice system..."

The ACLU is just figuring this out??

[LearningCurve]

20. If there wasn't something wrong with our justice system

There would be no need for organizations like the ACLU.

[kelliekat44]

19. Leaks to a foreign press? Isn't that a little different? nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. I agree with the ACLU

But not just in this issue.

[bigtree]

24. on this issue

. . . they've been consistently right.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. In general the legal system favors the powerful

To the point that it is a joke.

Manning is just exhibit (insert letter and number here)

[bigtree]

27. of the people

. . . by the people . . . for the people?


The great task remaining before us --- Gettysburg, A. Lincoln


" . . . in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. It has perished from the earth

[bigtree]

30. agreed

[Rex]

23. Until the laws apply equally to all Americans

then there are no real laws, just guidelines the elite might or might not follow. As evidenced by recent history.

[WillyT]

31. K & R !!!

[woo me with science]

32. K&R

[JimDandy]

34. K&R We need lots more whistleblowers

and an underground railroad to get them out, so they don't get treated like Manning. Thank goodness Snowden saw what was happening and got out in time.

When the really evil people continue to walk this earth with pensions from our tax dollars or a machine to keep their heart going, all while Obama works to get them all amnesty... well then we have a government that is royally fucked up.

[malaise]

36. +1000

Well said

[struggle4progress]

37. This is useless bullshizz. If the ACLU wanted to support Manning, they should have provided

legal assistance: statements of support don't mean squat

But AFAIK Bill-of-Rights lawyers didn't exactly rush into line to offer pro bono services to Manning: this suggests very few of them thought any court could take seriously a claim, that downloading and offshoring 730K classified documents, without bothering to read them, was somehow a matter of free speech or free press

Even Manning didn't try to sell that line