For everything good there is a dark side. Looks like sooner or later we will experience that. Today a US Congressman called for the execution of Private Bradley Manning who is accused of leaking secret documents to Wikileaks which exposed many issues related to the US Army. Many consider him to be a whistleblower for the US army.
However congressman Mike Rogers said that he supports the execution of the soldier who committed treason during the time of war. He went ahead to say that Manning should never have snooped around in the secure networks of the army intending to disclose information that was of considerable importance.
After the documents were released by Wikileaks, the US government said that this leak would put the US Armed forces at harms risk. The report exposed a number of reports where people were accidentally killed by US assassination squad. The report also revealed that Pakistan actively supports the Taliban and that it was providing safe haven for the Taliban and the terrorists.
Manning is accused of downloading sensitive video and data from the Army’s core secure network. These servers keep track of where the data is being moved and could be tracked back. This also exposes how weak the US army’s internal servers and its security actually are.
Manning is currently being held in solitary confinement in Virginia where he may face a court martial or federal prosecution as the investigation continues.
Is it fair for the US Government to execute what is being called a Whistleblower for the US Army?
daniel ellsburg was acquitted–shouldnt this ruling follow similar guidelines as his?
I agree, I think this should be considered as a whistle blower case.
I don’t really understand how this is even a discussion. Treason was very narrowly defined in the constitution as blah, blah, blah to the enemy in a time of war. We never got around to making any declarations of war. We don’t have law to prosecute the guy for treason. Are we talking about some espionage death penalty that we weren’t taught about in grade school?
If you are currently in the military you are considered government property and civilian rules don’t necessarily apply to you (so forget about Daniel Ellsburg as he was a civilian at the time), and during war time it a whole other ballgame, ever for civilians. And besides, it’s like Don Corleone told Sonny in the Godfather, “don’t ever take sides with anyone against the Family.” Why? Because, as Sonny found out, people can get killed that way. That he is a whistleblower is a nice idea, but it is not the case. He did not reveal anything that was not generally known or excepted as a likelihood, and his actions did not change anything for the better. By his own account he was un-happy and he acted out. I think the death penalty is a bit much in this case, but he is a traitor, not a whistleblower. Whistleblowers can be a force for positive change and should be protected. At best, he may be lucky enough not to be directly responsible for someone’s death as a result of his actions.
The Congressman should be executed for his failure to uphold the constitution and serve his constituency. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan are illegal wars and congress that stood by while it happened are the ones who should face a firing squad. The millions of innocent Iraquis and afghanis who have been killed are to numerour to be counted and this ass…. has the guts to call for an execution. How much money has this bastard collected illegally from corporate America to enrichen his pockets and he has the guts. The only reason this kid and so many others joined up is becaus e of the high unemployment and the promises of goodies by the enlistment sargeant. Harry Truman said that 5% unemployment is good for the country because the unemployed are the ones to seek the army out. We have high unemployment now and the suicide rates seem to settle one questiion, todays patriotism is not theold homegrown type. It is a wicked world that kills and slaughters like a Chicago meat packing plant.
I wonder what Ernie Pyle and Edward R Morrow, Lowell Thomas would say today of the arrogance of the congress and Senate. Ernie died beside the troops and action he was writing about. In WWII there were combat correspondents who were assigned to print and photograsph the war. WHat is so different today is that the CIA and the Intelligence are committing such horrible carnage that they prefer to cover it up under secrecy codes. Evil empires still exist.
Bradley manning should not be executed and should be rewarded for pointing out how much time and money is being wasted in Afghanistan. The US Army servers do not have the proper security to protect them selves from hackers? billions and billions of dollars unaccounted for the wars. This is a conflict that is near close to impossible to overcome. Terrorism has been around since the creation of man, there will always be a good guy and a bad guy, Angels Vs demons. Its a never ending conflict, we should mitigate the conflict by leaving afghanistan and investing in our border security and cyber security and most of all education! The demons attacked us from the inside of the united states not afghanistan or Iraq. In conclusion we need whistleblowers in order to determine if certain actions have been effective or not. We can’t always trust the word of a CEO, President, General or even a Parent, sometimes we need to dig deeper