Comments on: Bradley Manning Had Secrets

By: Woody Smith

Woody Smith — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:25:00 +0000

Graham Nash also wrote a characteristically brilliant song about Bradley, “24 Bright Light,” which can be heard at the end of the latest episode of the podcast “Spider On The Web,” at http://www.spiderrobinson.com/podcast.html

By: yadayada

yadayada — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:16:00 +0000

Yep, that worked. So intuitive and yet unobvious. Thanks.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 08:56:00 +0000

Hit Like again to unlike. Or so everybody tells me.

By: yadayada

yadayada — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 07:31:00 +0000

So, people are abusing a secret network by using it to send love letters to their wives? I think that should be reported. And if a “cubic shitload” of it is irrelevant, so what? What’s your point?

(Can I unlike this? I accidentally hit the wrong button. What I meant to do was reply.)

By: oasisob1

oasisob1 — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:44:00 +0000

Bingo. That’s the root of it.

By: taras

taras — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 13:26:00 +0000

What a great short. More powerful than any number of articles, especially for those of us (formerly) not that interested in the case.

By: Wally Ballou

Wally Ballou — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 13:26:00 +0000

Yes, because repetitive canned comments about how Manning is a hero contribute to the discussion, while repetitive canned comments about how he violated his oath are disruptive.

Personally, I think that if Manning had selectively leaked a small quantity of on-point documents to some journalists or anti-war legislators, rather than dumping a cubic shitload of irrelevant correspondence on the open internet, his defenders would have a little firmer ground to stand upon.

It’s the difference between (1) leaking a record showing that my boss is selling tainted meat, and (2) leaking the entire contents of his office, including the love letters to his wife, his chemotherapy appointments, and his betting slips.

By: Adam Butcher

Adam Butcher — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 13:11:00 +0000

Glad you thought it more sympathetic – that was the intention. Although being stuck behind a screen/IM chatlog does tend to make *real* human connection difficult…

By: bigbluemeanie

bigbluemeanie — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:04:00 +0000

“the overall effect (of the film) is strangely dehumanising” – I have to disagree, I found it a poignantly humanising portrayal of a young person grappling with immense personal and political issues.

By: Manny

Manny — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 09:26:00 +0000

Amen. I reported fraud and got my whole team reassigned. Confidentiality is a joke; how many people are there in a position to report any particular issue?

By: yadayada

yadayada — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:15:00 +0000

Can I nominate Adrian Lamo as Dickhead of the Decade?

By: yadayada

yadayada — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:13:00 +0000

You ever try to talk to IG? It got out that I was thinking about going to the IG about something. I got a little talk about how much harder my life was about to become, and I wasn’t in a war zone.
You’re pretty high on the RWA scale, aren’t you?

(Edit: This was supposed to be a reply to ChristopherSnipes. Somehow my logging in screwed that up.)

By: John Tyo

John Tyo — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 06:14:00 +0000

Very reminiscent of Asylum from Med Systems Software back in the 80′s on tape for the TRS-80.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:22:00 +0000

We are NOT going to back to the stone age in every Bradley Manning post because some jingoistic first-time commenter hasn’t bothered to do even the most minimal reading to see what really happened or bothered to consider the implications of “I was just following orders.”

By: Catbeller

Catbeller — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:11:00 +0000

Manning swore primarily to preserve and protect the Constitution of the USA against all enemies, domestic and foreign. “Follow orders” is not that. He was ordered to bring in innocent pamphleteers who his superiors had decided, without reason, as “terrorists”, even tho he had proven they were not. So his superiors were endangering the lives of all soldiers, and civilians, in present and future conflicts with the people they were torturing and those who would someday avenge them, all in a stupid war against no one for oil that, if Wikileaks had existed in 2003, we might never had had to fight if a Manning had leaked the process of lies that Cheney and Wolfowitz were selling us on. Not to mention that knowingly arresting and imprisoning innocent civilians in a “war” zone is violating who-knows how many treaties we are signatory to – and EVERY TREATY is as inviolate as the Constitution itself – the Constitution says so – the law of our land. So he indeed held up his oath, bravely. And now cowards and liars will punish him until he dies.

By: Michael Hasse

Michael Hasse — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:11:00 +0000

Why was the original chrissnipes poster account apparently banned? His posts may not follow the general tone of the audience here but he is provoking intelligent conversation around the issue. (Of course that conversation’s been had in many, many, places, so maybe it’s just redundant at this point?)

By: Catbeller

Catbeller — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:01:00 +0000

Manning did go through channels. He told his superiors that the civilians he was bringing in as “terrorists” were not, in fact, distributing terror pamphlets, but really tracts on theft by the government. He had those translated, as no one else had – he had been told they were terrorists pamphlets.His superiors told him to shut up and get more “terrorists”. God knows how many men are rotting in torture cells to this day because of “channels”. Read up.
What laws did his superiors break, ordering Manning to bring in the innocent? Are they on the docket? Where are they being tortured for the last year or two?

By: Manny

Manny — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 02:13:00 +0000

I think that courage means doing what’s hard, dangerous, or frightening because it needs doing. He knew that he faced serious consequences (as in going to jail for life, as we heard in that little film) and followed his conscience anyway.

By: Christopher Snipes

Christopher Snipes — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:55:00 +0000

He’s a coward for not using the channels that are provided for reporting violations of domestic and international laws. There is a reason that we have the Inspector General and there is a reason that information about wrongdoing can be submitted by anyone Private to General.

If Manning felt he couldn’t “follow orders” then he shouldn’t have sworn the Oath of Enlistment and signed his name on the dotted line in this ALL VOLUNTEER Army. He raised his hand and stated that he would follow the lawful orders of the Officers appointed over him. Those orders include not copying, sharing or disseminating SIPRNet/Classified information. He broke the law.

By: querent

querent — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:49:00 +0000

I could not disagree more. Cowards follow orders. Courageous men and women will break rank and stand for what’s right when their CO’s are in the wrong.

Manning is a hero.

As for violating all his “Army Services” oaths…isn’t there one in there about protecting the country against all enemies, foreign or domestic? If a supposedly civilian controlled military in a supposed republic is lying to the populace, I’d say there are some domestic enemies afoot.

By: peacemaker2000

peacemaker2000 — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:58:00 +0000

aren’t snipers those who stand way back the action and try to get kills on the shoulders of their companions?

By: peacemaker2000

peacemaker2000 — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:47:00 +0000

Yeah, getting the dirty secrets of your boss out is real coward, coward

By: chrissnipes

chrissnipes — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:40:00 +0000

How do you know what the American military is doing? Are you serving or have you ever served or are you just the 99% percent that will never take an oath to defend something greater than yourself?

Manning is a coward and violated every oath he took as a member of the US Army Services.

By: BadIdeaSociety

BadIdeaSociety — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:32:00 +0000

He really should have kept quiet about what he was doing, but Manning really seems to have wanted to get caught. I am not certain what he wanted to do from there.

By: MB44

MB44 — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:25:00 +0000

He’s really paying the cost for doing the right thing. I hope that history will depict him for the hero that he truly is. The establishment has dehumanized him and assassinated his character by attempting to set up an image of him as a feminine coward in order to undermine the public’s perspective of him. The reality is that he is a man that towers over a sea of cowards that did nothing and still do nothing to stop the American military from committing atrocities.

By: kyle broom

kyle broom — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:07:00 +0000

Another film about Manning here:
http://www.preventionofinjury.com

By: Radka

Radka — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:58:00 +0000

Such a good short!! I can’t believe the Bradley manning stuff is still unresolved. Poor guy :(

By: hypersomniac

hypersomniac — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:33:00 +0000

Cass McCombs penned a song for Bradley.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZAbN5EyYMk

By: Teller

Teller — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:43:00 +0000

Xlnt piece. Couldn’t Pfc Manning have gained an honorable discharge by speaking up about his desire to change gender? When I read the chatscripts a few months ago, grabbing the documents seemed less about his personal politics and more about his fundamental unhappiness. A lot of pain could’ve been avoided.