Wikileaks = Treason = Death sentence?
We've all read the news. Bradley Manning, a US soldier, has been accused of releasing sensitive government data to the Wikileaks and thus the world.
The danger of the information he, and possibly other people like him, released is not entirely clear, but one thing is: America's prestige, ability to fight wage war on the international stage, and the public's confidence in the strength of the secret service have all been shaken.
The most recent documents that reveal the Saudi King's feeling on the Middle East and China's feelings towards North Korea could have catastrophic consequences to stability in the region. I don't know about you, but that spells treason in my books.
So my question to you is this: should Bradley Manning be executed for treason?
To play the devil's advocate, I don't think he purposefully meant to harm the United States, he was blinded by his weird sense of morality and did something about it. He's a young-ling, all it took was a push of a button in a moment of stress for him to do what he did. Does he really deserve death?
On a side note, would you support the assassination of Assanage?
Hang him from a fucking yard arm
He doesn't even live in the US.
At the end of the day, these are all things the US has done. It's like if I ran someone over and then got pissed off because my friend started telling people I ran someone over.
The kid who released the info was a US Army soldier.
It's different then that bulge, and I think you know that.
And I HIGHLY doubt they'll execute him, it's far more likely that he'll spend most of the rest of his life in prison. But, hey, how many people spend as much time in the news or have their actions cause as much of a stir as his have?
I wouldn't kill him, but I would sentence him to 10-20 year hard labor, something like that. You need to send a strong message to people that it is not ok to release private information simply because you do not agree with it.
No, but hard labor is highly preferential to military prisons. 10-20 years in one of those, with the guys that are sentenced to time in those, is like spending 10-20 years in hell.
off with his head
Leavenworth ain't a cake walk.
I would strip him of his US citizenship, send him to Canada, arrest him for terrorism and then ship him to Gitmo lol
If we do not pursue someone who committed treason against the United States to the full extent of the law, particularly when that treason could lead to Nuclear war by North Korea due to the fact that China upbraided it in the article and talked about regime change, strained relationships with our allies, and made Iran more belligerent which may just give it the edge it needs out of this to finish its weapons program.
Short of the Kennedy assassination, and only that because it had the potential to break out nuclear war, I think this is the single greatest act of treason in American history. Yes, I think the assassination of previous presidents could possibly be less significant to America's welfare as a whole if this stalls our foreign diplomacy for a decade - a president can be replaced, a countries reputation and clout cannot,
If we don't punish that, what will we punish?
I don't think he will or should get executed either (I don't believe in the death penalty), but ten years in prison would be a disgrace. Black guys from Compton get double the time for robbing a store of 5 grand. This guy needs a life sentence without parole, he should die in prison .
I think it makes sense to look at precedent...
Scooter Libby leaked the identity of an undercover CIA operative, and had his 30 month prison sentence commuted.
Robert Hanssen gave state secrets directly to the Soviets and received life in Supermax prison, not death.
What Hanssen did was worse than what this soldier did. Ultimately, the US can respond to what's been published on wikileaks because it's now public info, while anything Hanssen stole was directly given to a US enemy with the express purpose of damaging the US without any ability to do "damage control".
So yeah, I think this guy probably deserves significant hard time, but Hanssen's way more of a traitor, and we chose not to wipe him off the map.
Libby went to jail for either misstating (or lying) about what day a meeting he ad was. He was convicted of perjury not treason or espionage. I would look toward the Soviet cases, and from those I would guess he gets like 15+ years with restricted acces to technology or something. Everyone will forget about him in a few years.
http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/11/29/wikileaks-julian-assan…
I'm definitely not suggesting what Libby did (or didn't do, who knows at this point) is equivalent, but rather stating it as something somewhat similar in recent memory that serves as a lower bound for what could happen. Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, and didn't go to jail.
I definitely think 15-30 years is in order for this guy, but this death penalty business is a bit much.
I'd say death by firing squad... certainly justified in this case
what a fucking retard
??? bradley manning is a hero just like deep throat
Could you please tell me why he is a hero? He stole and released sensitive military documents that did not show anything.
The US Military is not pre school. You do not just make decisions because you don't like them. Imagine if every infantryman decided to do what he wanted when told to attack. Orders and discipline are the backbone of the military.
as an aside to this discussion, Wikileaks plans to release another "megaleak" at the beginning of 2011. This time, the subject of the leak will be a major US bank. Check his very recent interview on Forbes if you don't believe me. He didn't disclose which bank, but he said some stuff about how it will inform people about how banks behave at the executive level. Which one do you think it could be? I thought it might be about the circumstances that led to BofA purchasing Merrill in the darkest days of the crisis.
While I disapprove of anything that puts our servicemen in danger, on a certain level I am very much in favor of ensuring that somebody is able to bring some checks and balances to government. I favor smaller, more transparent government, and I would be pleased if Wikileaks forced politicians to be more forthright with the masses. I wish Wikileaks was around before we invaded Iraq so we actually knew how flimsy the case was against Saddam and his "WMDs". Maybe we could have saved the lives of all those servicemen who died, and additionally all the money we're wasting over there.
And yes the serviceman who spread the leak should be punished but no he absolutely should not be executed.
Nuclear war with north Korea because of this? What a bunch of crap. I always assumed china had NK's back before i saw that report. I see this as more evidence that our military should not be overseas in south Korea. South Korea is a sovereign nation with billions in military spending to protect themselves and it seems china wont even back NK. This particular leak IMO chips away at arguments that are pro nation building or stationing troops overseas.
That is my point exactly. Because the North Koreans do not believe that China has got their back anymore, if they believe this report - which suggests China is in favor of regime change, if North Korea feels that it is on the brink of defeat and their regime will be wiped out they will be more likely to take a rash action like using a nuclear bomb as a last stand or something instead of waiting for Chinese intervention; they have nothing to loose, they know China will not back them up and is not the stalwart ally everyone thought they were - why would NK listen to China anymore?
Great point!
How many people do you think realized before the leak that Saudi Arabia and Jordan are just as scared of a nuclear Iran as Israel, but for different reasons?
I sincerely doubt that a pfc has access to top state department cables. And since when did army privates start working for the state department? Yes, leaks happen, but it sounds to me like he is just a stooge. Still, that is a serious crime.
For some reason I think there is much more rape in non military prison lol
Yea, I think you're right. I did a quick search and what I found was:
1) He's going to Leavenworth (all military sentences of 5 yrs+)
2) Not as much gang activity
3) If you keep your head low and do your time without causing shit you should be okay, unless someone takes a liking to you (could happen at a civ or mil prison)
The main difference it seems is when it works for them, they act like youre in the military. When it works for you, they act like you're a prisoner. So it's pretty much like being in the military... in prison. :-p
EDIT: More evidence that you're right heheh.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap_on_re_us/us_prison_violence_video
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