Glenn Greenwald is shown here in a previous “Democracy Now!” appearance in September.
This week, we salute fellow journalist Glenn Greenwald for lending his voice to the cause of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the alleged WikiLeaks source whose life may well be on the line if the U.S. Army’s newest and most severe charges play out against him in court.
Greenwald, who has flexed his considerable talents on Salon.com for years, cut straight to the quick in his March 3 column about Manning’s plight, posing the key question by way of his headline: “Bradley Manning could face death: For what?” Luckily for Manning (not to mention the American public at large), Greenwald is more than prepared to give an answer, complete with a detailed dissection of Article 104 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. First, he lays the groundwork:
Under 104(b)—almost certainly the provision to be applied—a person is guilty if he “gives intelligence to or communicates or corresponds with or holds any intercourse with the enemy, either directly or indirectly” (emphasis added), and, if convicted, “shall suffer death or such other punishment as a court-martial or military commission may direct.” The charge sheet filed by the Army is quite vague and neither indicates what specifically Manning did to violate this provision nor the identity of the “enemy” to whom he is alleged to have given intelligence.
Then, Greenwald takes issue with the Army’s possible interpretation of what exactly constitutes “the enemy” in this scenario, noting that WikiLeaks could be directly or indirectly implicated; either way, this case could turn out to be very bad news for whistle-blowers—not to mention the American media—down the line:
That would mean that it is a capital offense not only to furnish intelligence specifically and intentionally to actual enemies—the way that, say, Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen were convicted of passing intelligence to the Soviet Union—but also to act as a whistle-blower by leaking classified information to a newspaper with the intent that it be published to the world. Logically, if one can “aid the enemy” even by leaking to WikiLeaks, then one can also be guilty of this crime by leaking to The New York Times.
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So, it’s clear that more is on the line than one man’s fate, but Greenwald brings his discussion back to the personal level at the end, reminding readers that “Manning—convicted of nothing—continues to be held in 23-hour/day, highly repressive solitary confinement,” and has been in that state for the last 10 months. For now, Manning’s situation is not improving, but at least Greenwald is watching and taking notes.
Click here to catch Glenn Greenwald’s discussion with Amy Goodman about Pfc. Manning on Thursday’s edition of “Democracy Now!”
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Greenwald is a real journalist, not a media agent for a corporation. In other
words, he is not a sellout, I believe what he writes and he asks all the questions
and more that I myself would ask if I had the chance.
I wish Glenn Greenwald could be part of the panel of journalists who get to ask
presidential candidates questions during the debates. Glenn would ask the
hard questions, unafraid that he would not be invited to the beltway events
where media agents and politicians party together.
He would ask whether the president considers Manning’s treatment torture,
whether he thinks banks have done right by the American people, whether he
believes Julian Assange poses more of a threat to our govt than the financial
services industry whose lobbyists buy up elected officials like movie goers buy
popcorn.
By AnnaCatherine, March 6, 2011 at 7:21 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
One telephone call from the President could change all of this. He is after all, the Commander in Chief and a Constitutional lawyer. If they insist on holding Manning he should be allowed to have a cell with a bed, a window, some clothes and things to read. The isolation tactic serves no purpose except to break a person down. Whatever happened to Dennis Kucinich. He had planned to visit him. This whole thing just stinks. I’m glad that it’s getting good coverage.
(latest incident and status of bradley manning as of march 5 2011)...
pfc bradley manning will now be naked 7 hours every day ongoing…
according to david coombs blog (pfc manning’s defense lawyer)... the lawyer said that he learned about the circumstances from both manning and the brig forensic psychiatrist…
(pentagon press secretary geoff morrell has said that pfc manning has been a model detainee)...
(the brig forensic psychiatrists have continually said that there’s no mental health justification for a poi order for pfc manning)...
pfc manning had requested to be removed from maximum custody and poi…
pfc manning had been told that his request to be removed from maximum custody and poi (prevention of injury) had been denied by quantico commander col. daniel choike…
pvt manning then asked the brig operations officer…what he (manning) needed to do to be downgraded from maximum custody and poi (prevention of injury) orders…
he was told that there was nothing he could do to be downgraded… that the brig considers him a risk of self-harm…
he then said that was absurd… and then he sarcastically remarked that if he wanted to harm himself… he could conceivably do it with the elastic waistband in his shorts or his flip flops…
and then without consulting any brig mental health staff… chief warrent officer denise barnes used his sarcastic remark as a reason to increase the restrictions on him… under the pretense of concern that he’s a suicide risk…
but pvt manning was not put on the suicide watch list because it would have needed a mental health staff recommendation which the brig commander did not have…
(but… the brig commander does not need a mental health staff recommendation in order to increase the poi)...
the brig psychiatrist assessed pvt manning for this incident and said he was low-risk… and only needed out-patient follow-up…
the brig psychiatrist said that pfc manning’s remark about the waistband was not caused by a psychiatric condition…
but as stated earlier… the brig commander doesn’t need a recommendation in order to increase the poi (prevention of injury)... which is just what the commander did…
it’s a punishing act by the commander… as there’s no mental health justification for it…
Yeah, I’m well aware of the brouhaha between Ames/Levine and Greenwald. I just think it’s funny. The Kochs fund many, many organizations. And, yes, they have been a nuisance in libertarian circles, which is why I am no great lover of the Koch. My problem is with how they are demonized by the Left. There are much bigger monsters out there.
I will postpone my final judgment on the Kochtopus till the 2012 Libertarian Party presidential nomination. It will most likely come down to Wayne Allyn Root vs Mary Ruwart. If Root wins, I will disassociate completely with the LP, and spit in the face of Charles and/or David Koch if I ever get the chance.
In the meantime, Greenwald is one of the better journalists out there, and I highly respect his work.
GG : More likely, the Army will contend that by transmitting classified documents to WikiLeaks for intended publication, Manning “indirectly” furnished those documents to Al Qaeda and the Taliban by enabling those groups to learn their contents.
Even if a Military Tribunal would accept such hogwash (in a rush to judgment), it would never hold up on appeal in a civilian appeals court, to which defense lawyers would make recourse. (Which presumes admittedly that Manning has the right to do in terms of “due process of law”.)
From the link presented in the above article, which presumes, I suggest, to be part of the supposed Uniform Code of Military Justice:
(b) Enemy. “Enemy” includes organized forces of the enemy in time of war, any hostile body that our forces may be opposing, such as a rebellious mob or a band of renegades, and includes civilians as well as members of military organizations. “Enemy” is not restricted to the enemy government or its armed forces. All the citizens of one belligerent are enemies of the government and all the citizens of the other.
Wikileaks, of no national denomination, is a citizen of which “belligerent nation” or – if one extends the argument, which terrorist group that has practiced overtly an act of war against the United States? (As is, for instance, al Qaeda.)
Assange is an Australian who was living in Sweden when he came into possession of Manning’s data-files. These are “belligerent nations” vis-à-vis the US?
Regardless of the Military Tribunal’s contorted conviction of Manning on this trumped-up charge, it would be indefensible, imo, in a civil court of law. And once the case passes into the domain of Civil Law, then Manning’s rights under constitutional freedom-of-speech come into play.
From Greenwald’s Salon Article:
GG: It’s true that members of the military have legal duties that others do not have—including the duty not to leak classified information—but this incredibly expansive interpretation of what it means to “aid the enemy” dangerously encompasses all sorts of legitimate press and speech activities, especially when combined with the Obama administration’s escalating war on whistle-blowing and the journalists who expose government secrets.
Yes, Greenwald has got this right.
The charges as applied to Manning are scaremongering. If he is ever tried and convicted of Treason, then hung, the impact on Military credibility would be enormous in the public eye. One from which the Military would unlikely recover for some time to come. It does serious further damages to the concept of Freedom of Speech, which has suffered a battering already from Robert’s Supremes.
One can presume that the DoD is just trying to scare the hell out of its people to prevent such leaks. But it would be wiser to look at the process that allowed Manning so easily to purloin the files. Imagine what some who was really ‘n truly working for al Qaeda, from within the DoD, could do.
The army should get its own internal security procedures up to standard rather than prosecuting Manning. The DoD might discharge the guy, dishonorably if they want. He will remain nonetheless a national hero to some.
GG: Under 104(b)—almost certainly the provision to be applied—a person is guilty if he “gives intelligence to or communicates or corresponds with or holds any intercourse with the enemy
Which presumes an act of war has been pronounced against WikiLeaks by the PotUS and Congress has approved.
Where has that been done? WikiLeaks is not the enemy and the DoD lawyers will have a tough time proving otherwise.
Greenwald is off on a tangent to nowhere on this charge. There’s not the slightest hope that WikiLeaks can be proven to be the “enemy” or any threat to the overthrow of the US government. That assumption is ridiculous.
It is just a fly in the ointment of politics, one well overdue. Let’s hope there arrives a Business WikiLeaks that can generate “due cause” as regards business crimes - which America possesses in abundance.
Oh and one more thing (besides wishing for an Edit feature!)
There was quite a dust-up between Mark Ames/Yasha Levine and Glenn Greenwald after which Ames/Levine were taken to the woodshed by Katrina vanden Heuvel whereupon an apology (of sorts) was issued on behalf of the Ames/Levine tag team.
The Nation Posts a Narrow Apology. And Publishes Another Error.
“...Over the weekend, The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel posted something that sort of resembled an apology for the whiff at investigative journalism Mark Ames and Yasha Levine attempted at the magazine’s website last week. Ames and Levine, remember, wrote a meandering, conspiracy-mongering, wholly unsubstantiated article trying to link the anti-TSA backlash to the Koch family.* All the piece was missing was Glenn Beck’s blackboard…”
“...but here and there are some real surprises. One member of the DLC’s executive council is none other than Koch Industries, the privately held, Kansas-based oil company whose namesake family members are avatars of the far right, having helped to found archconservative institutions like the Cato Institute and Citizens for a Sound Economy. Not only that, but two Koch executives, Richard Fink and Robert P. Hall III, are listed as members of the board of trustees and the event committee, respectively—meaning that they gave significantly more than $25,000.
The DLC board of trustees is an elite body whose membership is reserved for major donors, and many of the trustees are financial wheeler-dealers who run investment companies and capital management firms—though senior executives from a handful of corporations, such as Koch, Aetna, and Coca-Cola, are included….”
“...Fitting, isn’t it? The entity that tries to undermine the progressive agenda from within the Democratic Party was getting funding from the guys who are trying to destroy the Democratic Party from the outside…”
Yes, David Koch is on the Board of Directors of the Cato Institute and Glenn Greenwald is a contributor to Cato. In fact, Charles Koch is one of the co-founders of Cato.
If you don’t believe me that Greenwald is on Koch payroll, just ask Mark Ames and Yasha Levine.
And if you don’t believe them, have a look for yourself.
Good choice! We need more journalists a la Glenn
Greenwald. Whatever is done to Bradley Manning is done
in our name. Speak up if don’t agree. To remain silent
is to consent.
The government, if in fact we are ruled by civilians (and there’s reason to doubt
that), might begin by changing the terms of the Uniform Code. That would be a
step toward justice and toward democracy.
Of course Greenwald ought be Truthdigger of the week and of lots of other
weeks. He does all the important hard work our “moral leaders” are forever
going on about. But they don’t mean the kind of hard work Greenwald does or
that Manning did; they mean only the kind that serves wealth, meaning
themselves and their sponsors.
Our legal system is the same one Dickens called “an ass.” Nothing so
epitomizes anachronism in terms of class, race and gender as a society’s or
nation-state’s legal system, constructed atop old belief systems
based in outmoded tradition and religion, finally in a given irrational economic
system. But then legal systems, like other institutions, have a way of taking on
lives of their own, becoming law for law’s sake, screw the victims. Kafkaesque. The propaganda machine
that is media bolsters individual and social belief in law, lest anarchy.
Manning’s “case” is a very particular one in point. He’s a political prisoner,
nothing more. One who’s being systematically tortured to boot—here in the
homeland where torture is never practiced.
Possibly the principle obstacle to democracy in the U.S. is its well entrenched
legal system. But even worse, perhaps, or simply more symptomatic is that the
legal system has become a business employing hundreds of thousands of
people, half labeled “criminal” while the other half consists of enforcers of
aggrandized, effectively sacred law. Sharia’s got nothin’ on our own system,
which is no more rational than Sharia.
To wit: If you spill beans as Manning did in order to inform the people who were
supposed already to have been informed then arrest and torture, trial,
conviction (all usually preceded by same in media) and execution (possibly for
Manning). Yeah, that last part isn’t barbaric or anything, but executioners need
jobs too.
(Even Barbara Boxer votes for defense procurements, because her state
employs thousands of workers in the weapons-manufacture sector.
Justification is always, “Need those jobs.”)
But, if you’re a banker on Wall Street and you—by accident?—engage in, say,
short selling on a massive scale—which, by the way, happens to destroy
thousands upon thousands of lives—no problem, let alone arrest, torture, trial,
conviction and execution. Some in media sometimes wonder of this too, but
media never seriously holds feet to fire unless Manning, Assange or Charlie Sheen.
Or, if you’re President and you declare (officially or not) war on some pitiful
people elsewhere—based on false claims or, for that matter, for no real reason
at all beyond enriching defense contractors—also no problem despite mass
murder perpetrated on outrageous scale!
Never mind Manning’s not only done zero harm to anyone nor to any society,
but on the contrary he’s done only good…
It’s Manning who ought be calling the shots, so to speak. He might begin with
arresting (but never torturing, unless Alan Dershowitz) the U.S. Government
and its military wing (and a host of pundits) then to face trial, hopefully
conviction and not execution but instead remanding to prisons where to spend
the remainder of their morally bankrupt lives.
Course that’s not about to happen. Again I applaud Greenwald’s work in one of
the world’s darkest, most dismal swamps on behalf of Bradley Manning and
others, while the rest of us ought “just say no” to the real criminals—as often as
possible, including every two years at every voting booth. At the very least,
“Just say no” to all affiliated with factions of the Big Business Party. And we
might also advise our children never ever to attend a military recruiting office
or academy.
In President Obama’s global war on terror, “the enemy” for purposes of 10 U.S.C. §
904(2) means the general public, or more specifically any person not employed by
an agency or department that reports to the President of the United States.
California Ray wrote a letter to his Member of Congress asking for assurances that
PFC Manning’s human rights were being protected while Manning is in pre-trial
detention. Sadly, Rep. Mike Honda’s office responded with a polite, generic, non-
responsive letter. In Honda’s defense, this occurred right before Christmas when
Congress was not in session. Still, Congressional interest in this case seems
anemic. C’mon, Mike!
Of corse they want to kill him, Manning that is. I would not be surprised if people
respond to this post with death wishes of their own.
I suppose one more death on a planet looking for an opportune time to commit suicide
doesn’t mean much to some. But, his death, would be the death of the one person out
of so many millions, who was willing to sacrifice himself for the beliefs of all those
millions who were willing to do next to nothing.
And that’s just our problem as a species, so many Christians so few Christ’s, so many
Buddhists, so few Budda’s, etc..
(A letter sent to Officials and the President yesterday, and more sent today. Had posted this elsewhere, and would like to share it here too.)
Dear Sir,
My duty as an American citizen, who cares deeply about our country and people, is to speak up for the sake of our country and its principles, which are for truth and justness and human decency.
My conscience is speaking on behalf of Private 1st Class Bradley E. Manning, a soldier being held in inhumane conditions in the United States Marine Corps Quantico Brig in Virgina. The reports of the conditions of his confinement are un-American. They resemble the conditions found in repressed countries using inhumane treatment, those same conditions that United States leaders are quick to call horrible and deplorable.
Our country needs the truth for its own betterment. Intelligence agencies which also consist of Wall Street lawyers and corporate heads, and whose influences steer towards manipulating the playing field to where their own best interests come first, have already wreaked havoc upon the state of our country.
We suffer the loss of our soldiers’ lives and health in wars where their enemies are the same fighters that our intelligence agency encouraged and funded years ago, being formed overseas to fight another country in an earlier era.
Just as Church and State do not mix well, neither does the Military and Wall Street Corporatism. And no matter how hard a higher echelon of ties, tries to hide those enmeshments, it still shows. We don’t have to look far to see the effects it has had.
Our country’s lifetime has gotten to the point where its health now needs the truth for its future well-being. Nothing else will be able to continue to replace that. See the facts for yourself. There are those of high level status who remain in denial, believing that they can ultimately manipulate situations into some sort of silver lining, while failing to realize that their own denial does our country no good.
Our country needs its people’s conscientiousness. It needs its people exposing the truth. Our country does not deserve to become known as the quick cover-up capital of the world. Nor does it deserve to be influenced into being another inhumane treatment facilitator either. For those ways and means to become a policy of our country’s officials, just shows the weakness of conscience, which falls by following the methods of repressed lesser countries, rather than leading the way through the strength of truth and fairness.
No human deserves inhumane treatment. And no one in our country who exposes the truth deserves inhumane treatment. And our military does not deserve inhumane treatment amongst one another.
Truth is not our country’s enemy. Falsehoods may consider the truth to be an enemy, but our country and its principles don’t. Our country’s principles need the truth. For without the truth, our country’s principles will cease to be.
All around the world there are humans being persecuted for exposing the truth. When there is a human in the Quantico Brig in Virginia being persecuted for exposing the truth, it just shows how well lies have taken hold. And our country and military and citizens don’t deserve that.
You Sir, are in a position to intervene and stop the unfair and inhumane treatment of Pvt. Manning, and righten that unconstitutional dire situation. You Sir, are in a position to show our country, and the rest of world, that the United States Military is not like the military of repressed lesser countries.
You Sir, are in a position to let our country and the world see, that you are on the side of truth and decency.
Please intervene to stop the unfair and inhumane treatment of Private 1st Class Bradley E. Manning.
absolutely it should be done: free this man on bail or whatever, ASAP, for basic
humanitarian justice and in order that he be permitted to tell his story publicly
which would serve all ‘people’ everywhere
but, it will not happen, mainly because the myth surrounding his case is more
useful to the souless ‘non-people’ intelligence goons’ ongoing Wikileaks psy-op than is the
truth - Pfc Manning, most likely, is not a witting participant in the psy-op, he is
being used mercilessly
all sympathy goes to this poor chap- the global intelligence nexus uses its assets
until they are no longer useful - the myth is more useful as such, no different than
OBL - confirmed dead since 2002 - yet the useful myth is given everlasting life
I’d like to applaud the choice of Glenn as “Truthdigger of the Week.” Glenn is one of the most articulate, insightful and courageous individuals I know working in independent investigative journalism. He never fails to turn his laser focus on the most significant issues, the issues that are fundamental to an understanding of what’s really going on. Let others cluck and roll their eyes over Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin or even the odious Clarence Thomas. Glenn goes straight to the heart of things with analysis, solid reasoning and facts. If our cadre of soul-for-sale “journalists” had even an ounce of integrity, they would see Glenn for the role model he is rather than a threat to their cozy livelihoods.
Suggestion: Greenwald or some other reporter experienced at investigative reporting and having access to a variety of sources, should, must make public a.s.a.p
What organizations are seriously involved with working for Manning’s welfare in prison and for a fair trial. Specifically, what are they doing, what are they unable to do and why, and are they going to follow through?
What money is likely to be needed to employ the very best civil rights attorneys, and what can be done pro bono? Where is money being collected?
What can be done to prevent this from becoming another “extraordinary rendition” with all the flaws of injustice due to public prejudice being stirred up and fearful hysteria incited to aid prosecution?
What powerful and influential voices can be called upon to speak and act in Manning’s defense, and when and how can they best be employed? How can media be prevented from creating a firestorm, considering widespread ignorance, fear and desire for revenge?
How can we best organize and run an educational campaign to help average people understand the vital significance of this case, not only from a freedom of speech aspect, but from the standpoint of openness in government and the net’s significance in forwarding a tradition of transparency, especially in foreign policy?
Lock Up Washington
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By Not One More!, March 8, 2011 at 3:49 pm Link to this comment
SO, if you are outraged, call your congressman and senators. They will only act if you act.
Report thisBy Ehrenstein, March 7, 2011 at 3:33 pm Link to this comment
Like Pfc. Bradley Manning, Glenn is gay. The army is having Manning stand around naked for seven hours every day in order to humiliate him.
So much for the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
Report thisBy mackTN, March 6, 2011 at 10:16 pm Link to this comment
Greenwald is a real journalist, not a media agent for a corporation. In other
words, he is not a sellout, I believe what he writes and he asks all the questions
and more that I myself would ask if I had the chance.
I wish Glenn Greenwald could be part of the panel of journalists who get to ask
presidential candidates questions during the debates. Glenn would ask the
hard questions, unafraid that he would not be invited to the beltway events
where media agents and politicians party together.
He would ask whether the president considers Manning’s treatment torture,
whether he thinks banks have done right by the American people, whether he
believes Julian Assange poses more of a threat to our govt than the financial
services industry whose lobbyists buy up elected officials like movie goers buy
popcorn.
Fan for life.
Report thisBy AnnaCatherine, March 6, 2011 at 7:21 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
One telephone call from the President could change all of this. He is after all, the Commander in Chief and a Constitutional lawyer. If they insist on holding Manning he should be allowed to have a cell with a bed, a window, some clothes and things to read. The isolation tactic serves no purpose except to break a person down. Whatever happened to Dennis Kucinich. He had planned to visit him. This whole thing just stinks. I’m glad that it’s getting good coverage.
Report thisBy surfnow, March 6, 2011 at 1:55 pm Link to this comment
And people STILL call you a kook when you tell them that Amerika is precisely like Germany in 1938.
Report thisBy sallysense, March 6, 2011 at 1:30 pm Link to this comment
(latest incident and status of bradley manning as of march 5 2011)...
pfc bradley manning will now be naked 7 hours every day ongoing…
according to david coombs blog (pfc manning’s defense lawyer)... the lawyer said that he learned about the circumstances from both manning and the brig forensic psychiatrist…
(pentagon press secretary geoff morrell has said that pfc manning has been a model detainee)...
(the brig forensic psychiatrists have continually said that there’s no mental health justification for a poi order for pfc manning)...
pfc manning had requested to be removed from maximum custody and poi…
pfc manning had been told that his request to be removed from maximum custody and poi (prevention of injury) had been denied by quantico commander col. daniel choike…
pvt manning then asked the brig operations officer…what he (manning) needed to do to be downgraded from maximum custody and poi (prevention of injury) orders…
he was told that there was nothing he could do to be downgraded… that the brig considers him a risk of self-harm…
he then said that was absurd… and then he sarcastically remarked that if he wanted to harm himself… he could conceivably do it with the elastic waistband in his shorts or his flip flops…
and then without consulting any brig mental health staff… chief warrent officer denise barnes used his sarcastic remark as a reason to increase the restrictions on him… under the pretense of concern that he’s a suicide risk…
but pvt manning was not put on the suicide watch list because it would have needed a mental health staff recommendation which the brig commander did not have…
(but… the brig commander does not need a mental health staff recommendation in order to increase the poi)...
the brig psychiatrist assessed pvt manning for this incident and said he was low-risk… and only needed out-patient follow-up…
the brig psychiatrist said that pfc manning’s remark about the waistband was not caused by a psychiatric condition…
but as stated earlier… the brig commander doesn’t need a recommendation in order to increase the poi (prevention of injury)... which is just what the commander did…
it’s a punishing act by the commander… as there’s no mental health justification for it…
Report thisBy Fat Freddy, March 6, 2011 at 9:04 am Link to this comment
BarbieQue
Yeah, I’m well aware of the brouhaha between Ames/Levine and Greenwald. I just think it’s funny. The Kochs fund many, many organizations. And, yes, they have been a nuisance in libertarian circles, which is why I am no great lover of the Koch. My problem is with how they are demonized by the Left. There are much bigger monsters out there.
I will postpone my final judgment on the Kochtopus till the 2012 Libertarian Party presidential nomination. It will most likely come down to Wayne Allyn Root vs Mary Ruwart. If Root wins, I will disassociate completely with the LP, and spit in the face of Charles and/or David Koch if I ever get the chance.
In the meantime, Greenwald is one of the better journalists out there, and I highly respect his work.
Report thisBy Lafayette, March 6, 2011 at 2:08 am Link to this comment
AS WELL
Even if a Military Tribunal would accept such hogwash (in a rush to judgment), it would never hold up on appeal in a civilian appeals court, to which defense lawyers would make recourse. (Which presumes admittedly that Manning has the right to do in terms of “due process of law”.)
From the link presented in the above article, which presumes, I suggest, to be part of the supposed Uniform Code of Military Justice:
Wikileaks, of no national denomination, is a citizen of which “belligerent nation” or – if one extends the argument, which terrorist group that has practiced overtly an act of war against the United States? (As is, for instance, al Qaeda.)
Assange is an Australian who was living in Sweden when he came into possession of Manning’s data-files. These are “belligerent nations” vis-à-vis the US?
Regardless of the Military Tribunal’s contorted conviction of Manning on this trumped-up charge, it would be indefensible, imo, in a civil court of law. And once the case passes into the domain of Civil Law, then Manning’s rights under constitutional freedom-of-speech come into play.
From Greenwald’s Salon Article:
Yes, Greenwald has got this right.
The charges as applied to Manning are scaremongering. If he is ever tried and convicted of Treason, then hung, the impact on Military credibility would be enormous in the public eye. One from which the Military would unlikely recover for some time to come. It does serious further damages to the concept of Freedom of Speech, which has suffered a battering already from Robert’s Supremes.
One can presume that the DoD is just trying to scare the hell out of its people to prevent such leaks. But it would be wiser to look at the process that allowed Manning so easily to purloin the files. Imagine what some who was really ‘n truly working for al Qaeda, from within the DoD, could do.
The army should get its own internal security procedures up to standard rather than prosecuting Manning. The DoD might discharge the guy, dishonorably if they want. He will remain nonetheless a national hero to some.
Report thisBy Lafayette, March 6, 2011 at 1:32 am Link to this comment
RIDICULOUS
Which presumes an act of war has been pronounced against WikiLeaks by the PotUS and Congress has approved.
Where has that been done? WikiLeaks is not the enemy and the DoD lawyers will have a tough time proving otherwise.
Greenwald is off on a tangent to nowhere on this charge. There’s not the slightest hope that WikiLeaks can be proven to be the “enemy” or any threat to the overthrow of the US government. That assumption is ridiculous.
It is just a fly in the ointment of politics, one well overdue. Let’s hope there arrives a Business WikiLeaks that can generate “due cause” as regards business crimes - which America possesses in abundance.
Report thisBy BarbieQue, March 5, 2011 at 11:03 pm Link to this comment
Oh and one more thing (besides wishing for an Edit feature!)
There was quite a dust-up between Mark Ames/Yasha Levine and Glenn Greenwald after which Ames/Levine were taken to the woodshed by Katrina vanden Heuvel whereupon an apology (of sorts) was issued on behalf of the Ames/Levine tag team.
The Nation Posts a Narrow Apology. And Publishes Another Error.
“...Over the weekend, The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel posted something that sort of resembled an apology for the whiff at investigative journalism Mark Ames and Yasha Levine attempted at the magazine’s website last week. Ames and Levine, remember, wrote a meandering, conspiracy-mongering, wholly unsubstantiated article trying to link the anti-TSA backlash to the Koch family.* All the piece was missing was Glenn Beck’s blackboard…”
http://reason.com/blog/2010/11/29/the-nation-posts-a-narrow-apol
Salon coverage, background and updates from Levine/Ames:
Anatomy of a journalistic smear job
By Glenn Greenwald
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/11/24/tyner
Ames and Levine were incredibly good when they were writing the eXile but since then, not so much
Report thisBy BarbieQue, March 5, 2011 at 10:33 pm Link to this comment
Hmmmm….
The DLC is one of those Koch funded orgs
How the DLC Does It
Robert Dreyfuss | April 22, 2001
“...but here and there are some real surprises. One member of the DLC’s executive council is none other than Koch Industries, the privately held, Kansas-based oil company whose namesake family members are avatars of the far right, having helped to found archconservative institutions like the Cato Institute and Citizens for a Sound Economy. Not only that, but two Koch executives, Richard Fink and Robert P. Hall III, are listed as members of the board of trustees and the event committee, respectively—meaning that they gave significantly more than $25,000.
The DLC board of trustees is an elite body whose membership is reserved for major donors, and many of the trustees are financial wheeler-dealers who run investment companies and capital management firms—though senior executives from a handful of corporations, such as Koch, Aetna, and Coca-Cola, are included….”
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=how_the_dlc_does_it
“...Fitting, isn’t it? The entity that tries to undermine the progressive agenda from within the Democratic Party was getting funding from the guys who are trying to destroy the Democratic Party from the outside…”
http://www.americablog.com/2010/08/koch-industries-gave-funding-to-dlc-and.html
Seems like the DLC loves the Koch too
Greenwald does more for Truth in a week than the DLC has done in their entire existence. A great choice for Truthdigger of the Week!
Report thisBy Fat Freddy, March 5, 2011 at 8:40 pm Link to this comment
Hmmm. Greenwald is one of those Koch funded libertarians.
http://www.cato-unbound.org/contributors/glenn-greenwald/
Yes, David Koch is on the Board of Directors of the Cato Institute and Glenn Greenwald is a contributor to Cato. In fact, Charles Koch is one of the co-founders of Cato.
If you don’t believe me that Greenwald is on Koch payroll, just ask Mark Ames and Yasha Levine.
And if you don’t believe them, have a look for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL67notVmAQ
Na na na na na. Greenwald takes money fro the Kochs just like Gov. Scott Walker.
Truthdig loves the Koch.
Report thisBy JohannG, March 5, 2011 at 4:52 pm Link to this comment
Good choice! We need more journalists a la Glenn
Report thisGreenwald. Whatever is done to Bradley Manning is done
in our name. Speak up if don’t agree. To remain silent
is to consent.
By gerard, March 5, 2011 at 2:32 pm Link to this comment
Write/phone:Dept. of Justice Atty.Gen.Eric Holder
Report thisSec. of Defense Robert Gates
President Barack Obama
Your Senators, Representative
By CJ, March 5, 2011 at 1:29 pm Link to this comment
The government, if in fact we are ruled by civilians (and there’s reason to doubt
that), might begin by changing the terms of the Uniform Code. That would be a
step toward justice and toward democracy.
Of course Greenwald ought be Truthdigger of the week and of lots of other
weeks. He does all the important hard work our “moral leaders” are forever
going on about. But they don’t mean the kind of hard work Greenwald does or
that Manning did; they mean only the kind that serves wealth, meaning
themselves and their sponsors.
Our legal system is the same one Dickens called “an ass.” Nothing so
epitomizes anachronism in terms of class, race and gender as a society’s or
nation-state’s legal system, constructed atop old belief systems
based in outmoded tradition and religion, finally in a given irrational economic
system. But then legal systems, like other institutions, have a way of taking on
lives of their own, becoming law for law’s sake, screw the victims. Kafkaesque. The propaganda machine
that is media bolsters individual and social belief in law, lest anarchy.
Manning’s “case” is a very particular one in point. He’s a political prisoner,
nothing more. One who’s being systematically tortured to boot—here in the
homeland where torture is never practiced.
Possibly the principle obstacle to democracy in the U.S. is its well entrenched
legal system. But even worse, perhaps, or simply more symptomatic is that the
legal system has become a business employing hundreds of thousands of
people, half labeled “criminal” while the other half consists of enforcers of
aggrandized, effectively sacred law. Sharia’s got nothin’ on our own system,
which is no more rational than Sharia.
To wit: If you spill beans as Manning did in order to inform the people who were
supposed already to have been informed then arrest and torture, trial,
conviction (all usually preceded by same in media) and execution (possibly for
Manning). Yeah, that last part isn’t barbaric or anything, but executioners need
jobs too.
(Even Barbara Boxer votes for defense procurements, because her state
employs thousands of workers in the weapons-manufacture sector.
Justification is always, “Need those jobs.”)
But, if you’re a banker on Wall Street and you—by accident?—engage in, say,
short selling on a massive scale—which, by the way, happens to destroy
thousands upon thousands of lives—no problem, let alone arrest, torture, trial,
conviction and execution. Some in media sometimes wonder of this too, but
media never seriously holds feet to fire unless Manning, Assange or Charlie Sheen.
Or, if you’re President and you declare (officially or not) war on some pitiful
people elsewhere—based on false claims or, for that matter, for no real reason
at all beyond enriching defense contractors—also no problem despite mass
murder perpetrated on outrageous scale!
Never mind Manning’s not only done zero harm to anyone nor to any society,
but on the contrary he’s done only good…
It’s Manning who ought be calling the shots, so to speak. He might begin with
arresting (but never torturing, unless Alan Dershowitz) the U.S. Government
and its military wing (and a host of pundits) then to face trial, hopefully
conviction and not execution but instead remanding to prisons where to spend
the remainder of their morally bankrupt lives.
Course that’s not about to happen. Again I applaud Greenwald’s work in one of
Report thisthe world’s darkest, most dismal swamps on behalf of Bradley Manning and
others, while the rest of us ought “just say no” to the real criminals—as often as
possible, including every two years at every voting booth. At the very least,
“Just say no” to all affiliated with factions of the Big Business Party. And we
might also advise our children never ever to attend a military recruiting office
or academy.
By California Ray, March 5, 2011 at 12:19 pm Link to this comment
In President Obama’s global war on terror, “the enemy” for purposes of 10 U.S.C. §
Report this904(2) means the general public, or more specifically any person not employed by
an agency or department that reports to the President of the United States.
By California Ray, March 5, 2011 at 12:06 pm Link to this comment
California Ray wrote a letter to his Member of Congress asking for assurances that
Report thisPFC Manning’s human rights were being protected while Manning is in pre-trial
detention. Sadly, Rep. Mike Honda’s office responded with a polite, generic, non-
responsive letter. In Honda’s defense, this occurred right before Christmas when
Congress was not in session. Still, Congressional interest in this case seems
anemic. C’mon, Mike!
By prisnersdilema, March 5, 2011 at 10:40 am Link to this comment
Of corse they want to kill him, Manning that is. I would not be surprised if people
respond to this post with death wishes of their own.
I suppose one more death on a planet looking for an opportune time to commit suicide
doesn’t mean much to some. But, his death, would be the death of the one person out
of so many millions, who was willing to sacrifice himself for the beliefs of all those
millions who were willing to do next to nothing.
And that’s just our problem as a species, so many Christians so few Christ’s, so many
Report thisBuddhists, so few Budda’s, etc..
By sallysense, March 5, 2011 at 10:26 am Link to this comment
(A letter sent to Officials and the President yesterday, and more sent today. Had posted this elsewhere, and would like to share it here too.)
Dear Sir,
My duty as an American citizen, who cares deeply about our country and people, is to speak up for the sake of our country and its principles, which are for truth and justness and human decency.
My conscience is speaking on behalf of Private 1st Class Bradley E. Manning, a soldier being held in inhumane conditions in the United States Marine Corps Quantico Brig in Virgina. The reports of the conditions of his confinement are un-American. They resemble the conditions found in repressed countries using inhumane treatment, those same conditions that United States leaders are quick to call horrible and deplorable.
Our country needs the truth for its own betterment. Intelligence agencies which also consist of Wall Street lawyers and corporate heads, and whose influences steer towards manipulating the playing field to where their own best interests come first, have already wreaked havoc upon the state of our country.
We suffer the loss of our soldiers’ lives and health in wars where their enemies are the same fighters that our intelligence agency encouraged and funded years ago, being formed overseas to fight another country in an earlier era.
Just as Church and State do not mix well, neither does the Military and Wall Street Corporatism. And no matter how hard a higher echelon of ties, tries to hide those enmeshments, it still shows. We don’t have to look far to see the effects it has had.
Our country’s lifetime has gotten to the point where its health now needs the truth for its future well-being. Nothing else will be able to continue to replace that. See the facts for yourself. There are those of high level status who remain in denial, believing that they can ultimately manipulate situations into some sort of silver lining, while failing to realize that their own denial does our country no good.
Our country needs its people’s conscientiousness. It needs its people exposing the truth. Our country does not deserve to become known as the quick cover-up capital of the world. Nor does it deserve to be influenced into being another inhumane treatment facilitator either. For those ways and means to become a policy of our country’s officials, just shows the weakness of conscience, which falls by following the methods of repressed lesser countries, rather than leading the way through the strength of truth and fairness.
No human deserves inhumane treatment. And no one in our country who exposes the truth deserves inhumane treatment. And our military does not deserve inhumane treatment amongst one another.
Truth is not our country’s enemy. Falsehoods may consider the truth to be an enemy, but our country and its principles don’t. Our country’s principles need the truth. For without the truth, our country’s principles will cease to be.
All around the world there are humans being persecuted for exposing the truth. When there is a human in the Quantico Brig in Virginia being persecuted for exposing the truth, it just shows how well lies have taken hold. And our country and military and citizens don’t deserve that.
You Sir, are in a position to intervene and stop the unfair and inhumane treatment of Pvt. Manning, and righten that unconstitutional dire situation. You Sir, are in a position to show our country, and the rest of world, that the United States Military is not like the military of repressed lesser countries.
You Sir, are in a position to let our country and the world see, that you are on the side of truth and decency.
Please intervene to stop the unfair and inhumane treatment of Private 1st Class Bradley E. Manning.
Sincerely,
Sally Kline
Report thisBy fearnotruth, March 5, 2011 at 6:45 am Link to this comment
absolutely it should be done: free this man on bail or whatever, ASAP, for basic
humanitarian justice and in order that he be permitted to tell his story publicly
which would serve all ‘people’ everywhere
but, it will not happen, mainly because the myth surrounding his case is more
useful to the souless ‘non-people’ intelligence goons’ ongoing Wikileaks psy-op than is the
truth - Pfc Manning, most likely, is not a witting participant in the psy-op, he is
being used mercilessly
all sympathy goes to this poor chap- the global intelligence nexus uses its assets
Report thisuntil they are no longer useful - the myth is more useful as such, no different than
OBL - confirmed dead since 2002 - yet the useful myth is given everlasting life
By profmarcus, March 5, 2011 at 2:06 am Link to this comment
I’d like to applaud the choice of Glenn as “Truthdigger of the Week.” Glenn is one of the most articulate, insightful and courageous individuals I know working in independent investigative journalism. He never fails to turn his laser focus on the most significant issues, the issues that are fundamental to an understanding of what’s really going on. Let others cluck and roll their eyes over Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin or even the odious Clarence Thomas. Glenn goes straight to the heart of things with analysis, solid reasoning and facts. If our cadre of soul-for-sale “journalists” had even an ounce of integrity, they would see Glenn for the role model he is rather than a threat to their cozy livelihoods.
http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/
Report thisBy Jimnp72, March 5, 2011 at 12:33 am Link to this comment
The Commander in Chief can pardon this brave man, rather than treating him as a
Report thisrabid animal needing torture and death
By gerard, March 4, 2011 at 11:44 pm Link to this comment
Suggestion: Greenwald or some other reporter experienced at investigative reporting and having access to a variety of sources, should, must make public a.s.a.p
Report thisWhat organizations are seriously involved with working for Manning’s welfare in prison and for a fair trial. Specifically, what are they doing, what are they unable to do and why, and are they going to follow through?
What money is likely to be needed to employ the very best civil rights attorneys, and what can be done pro bono? Where is money being collected?
What can be done to prevent this from becoming another “extraordinary rendition” with all the flaws of injustice due to public prejudice being stirred up and fearful hysteria incited to aid prosecution?
What powerful and influential voices can be called upon to speak and act in Manning’s defense, and when and how can they best be employed? How can media be prevented from creating a firestorm, considering widespread ignorance, fear and desire for revenge?
How can we best organize and run an educational campaign to help average people understand the vital significance of this case, not only from a freedom of speech aspect, but from the standpoint of openness in government and the net’s significance in forwarding a tradition of transparency, especially in foreign policy?