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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums(RT) BREAKING: Manning is asking Obama for a Pardon
(RT) The lead attorney for Army Private first class Bradley Manning told the media on Wednesday that hell begin asking US President Barack Obama to pardon his client as early as next week.
Three hours after a military judge sentenced Pfc. Manning to 35 years in prison for disclosing sensitive government documents, attorney David Coombs said the appeals process will begin in a matter of days.
I will file a request, Coombs said in a Wednesday afternoon presser, a request that the president pardon Pfc. Manning, or at the very least commute his sentence to time served.
That request, Coombs said, includes in part a statement from Manning himself.
I understand that my actions violated the law, Coombs read the soldiers statement. I regret that my actions hurt or harmed the US. It was never my intent to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people.
Pfc. Manning and his counsel will ask the White House to remove the 35-year sentence handed down early Wednesday by Army Col. Denise Lind at a courthouse in Ft. Meade, Maryland. Should that request be refused, however, Manning wrote, I will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a heavy price for living in a free society.
http://rt.com/usa/bradley-manning-obama-pardon-805/
gopiscrap
(23,673 posts)and I hope Obama gives it to him if fuckers like Ollie North can get one, then Manning definitely should be getting one.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)society" And sometimes you have to pay a heavy price for breaking the law and a sworn oath.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)Every time someone justifies an injustice by saying "the law is the law", that person accepts an essentially fascist view of life. Especially since the law, in this country, has never been pure and neutral and has always favored the powerful, the wealthy, and the repressive over the people.
Manning had no alternative but to do what he did, and everything would be worse if he hadn't done it.
RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)Okay, he broke the law, but sometimes the law is a broken law, and needs to be broken, so that it can be changed.
AFAIC, nobody's life was put in jeopardy, and no strategy was revealed, by Manning's submissions.
On the other hand, it may have helped to SAVE lives.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)disclosed. People were hurt by the criminals who broke international law and invaded a country without just cause. No one was hurt by Manning's revelations. No one.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)City Lights
(25,171 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)...cause thousands of death....and misery...and expense...and ....lots of other nice things.
A non-com soldier ?? ....Surely you jest.
tblue
(16,350 posts)Agony
(2,605 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)I feel for him.
Autumn
(44,748 posts)He has always considered Bradley Manning guilty.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)would be within the realm of imagination though, since it would still leave the "guilty"
verdict in place.
And I think Obama should definitely do that, at the very least.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)dballance
(5,756 posts)Too bad for Manning he wasn't running drugs and weapons in an effort to prop up the resistance/dictator/overthrow of some government the US corporations were pissed at for taking back their country by, oh, democratic processes. Then not bowing to the demands of the US corporations any longer and throwing them out. CIA = Corporations' Imperial America
tblue
(16,350 posts)He should've chosen another career path.
My gosh, this is depressing.
markiv
(1,489 posts)the planet Jupiter making me it's Facebook friend, than him getting the pardon from Obama
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)which he doesn't.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)winter is coming
(11,785 posts)robinlynne
(15,481 posts)Response to 99th_Monkey (Reply #12)
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JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)They enjoy immunity because they claim merely to have been executing the duties of their offices, that is carrying out their government jobs, while committing their many crimes in Iraq.
I think that the argument should be presented in a court to the effect that lying was not part of their work for the government and that, therefore, their lies and starting the Iraq War were not within the scope of their employment and that, therefore, they are not entitled to immunity on that basis.
If you are a police officer on duty and you kill your wife's lover with your department-issued gun, you are not immune from prosecution or lawsuit on the ground that you were a government employee and supposedly working at the time. You would only be immune if you could show that shooting your wife's lover was definitely a part of your duties as a police officer.
Similarly, if you are a school janitor, and you molest a child at the school, you are personally susceptible to answer in court to possible criminal or civil charges. Usually, immunity should only apply if your crime is really a part of your work.
Bush and Cheney lied to get us into Iraq. Whether they are entitled to immunity is what should be argued in a court. They would claim that they were just doing their jobs. But the plaintiffs would argue that fighting and illegal war was not part of their job duties and that therefore they are not entitled to immunity.
Response to JDPriestly (Reply #50)
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JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)They are a shameful bunch. They tarnished our country's honor.
Response to JDPriestly (Reply #60)
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HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)appropriate that PFC Manning serves his term while Bush and Cheney walk around free men, unencumbered by accountability.
Why, you ask.
Because it lays bare for all with eyes to see the utter bankruptcy of this society and government, the utter brutality of its so-called values and the cheap lie that tries to pass itself off as representative democracy.
Sorry, Bradley, that you have to pay for all our sins.
Today I can say, once again, that I am deeply ashamed to be an American citizen.
SammyWinstonJack
(44,129 posts)Hard to say otherwise these days.
bu$h and cheney rewarded handsomely for their war crimes is looking forward.
RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)one_voice
(20,043 posts)pardons him. Time served.
I would like him to do it now, but even if he waited to the end of his term, as long as he does it.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)polichick
(37,152 posts)RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)And that blessings are often disguised as curses.
Safetykitten
(5,162 posts)davidn3600
(6,342 posts)This administration has a burning hatred for whistleblowers.
TDale313
(7,820 posts)Socal31
(2,484 posts)People are focused on Snowden, not Manning at this point. He can reduce the sentence or pardon him, and maybe save some of his legacy.
CakeGrrl
(10,611 posts)Outside of some internet blogs, that is.
Socal31
(2,484 posts)I don't hear anyone talking about his Nobel Peace Prize, or ending DADT. Or getting Bin Laden. Or refusing to defend DOMA.
Take a walk through LBN or GD and see what is happening. It is exactly what will kill morale and momentum right up to the 2014 elections. If Repubs grow a brain and decide to take advantage of the situation and become the anti-spying party, it may hurt all the way to 2016 as well.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)die your natural death. Legacy is what you leave to future generations.
It is what Obama is doing to future generations, how his decisions are robbing future generations of freedom they are going to want to have that we are concerned about. Obama is placing the executive in such a predominant position in our government, way beyond the co-equal position that the executive should have according to the Constitution, that is legacy will be one that brings a lot of sorrow.
And sooner or later, our crimes will come back to our country and the price for the crimes our government is committing now will be paid by future generations.
G_j
(40,366 posts)maybe Obama will feel a tinge of guilt for improperly publicly condemning Manning before he went to trial.
However, I doubt that will happen.
onethatcares
(16,131 posts)I am surprised that the teaparty activists, and rightwing racists aren't already calling for a mistrial as they did when the President stated Trayvon might have looked like his son.
Am I to presume that there is a blind side to their bullshit?
and, thanks for your post.
G_j
(40,366 posts)He was commenting on what a tragic loss it was.
In this case he declared that Manning, the accused, "broke the law".
tblue
(16,350 posts)Manning is not in the 'in' crowd. Neither are we, by the way.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)like commuting the sentence to "time served" <--Especially. since much of the
time served was in solitary confinement, where he was subjected to constant abuse and
mistreatment.
villager
(26,001 posts)n/t
maindawg
(1,151 posts)it will happen in jan. 2016
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Not with this president.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)And he'll get that pardon.
CakeGrrl
(10,611 posts)Let's pardon everyone else who would rather not go to jail for violating laws, too.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)alp227
(31,960 posts)we'd be complaining "NOW? REALLY? Lack of principles! All for show!"
And if not, then the greatest threads would be all about Obama's stained legacy.
Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)but I doubt it would ever happen. It would be seen as something like "messing up military discipline" or sumthin.
Maybe one of those last day of the Admin pardons like with that commodity trader guy Clinton did. Faux Noose would be all over that one. But it'd save Hillary the trouble of having to deal with it.
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GHA HA HA HA HA
From Obama, who let Bush and friends walk?
Matariki
(18,775 posts)Or whatever it was that was said about Bush Administration war crimes.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)no wait, then why is Don Siegelman still in the slammer?
Jakes Progress
(11,121 posts)were as honorable as Pfc Manning.
rug
(82,333 posts)snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)his brutal incarceration.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)Obama remember polluted the pre-trial airwaves with pronouncements
of Manning being "guilty" of "breaking the law"; so a "time served"
decision by Obama would seem a particularly fitting outcome.
Not that I really think Obama WILL do it, just that I think it would
be the spot-on fair and honorable thing for him to do.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)It's not as if he's going to do something like that again.
Response to 99th_Monkey (Original post)
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