Mullen: Assange/Manning have blood on their hands
As Sporkmaster and Old Trooper Tanker have written in the last few days, it appears that the culprit for releasing those 91,000 documents related to the Afghanistan War is Bradley Manning. It’s not surprising really, since he said he did it.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen told reporters yesterday that the leak may have put some soldiers and their Afghan allies at risk (Stars & Stripes link);
“Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good of what he and his source are doing,” Mullen said. “But the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family.”
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked FBI and Justice Department officials to help with the investigation into the release. He also said the incident would likely force changes in the way sensitive documents are handled in the combat zone, an area where he admitted restrictions have been lax in the past.
Gates did not rule out criminal action against Assange, but said defense officials have not made any such moves so far.
The Washington Times chose not to publish Wikileaks documents because of the potential harm to our troops. In today’s op/ed they write;
The First Amendment does not protect publishing information likely to result in troops being killed or that directly hampers military operations. The government has an overriding interest in safeguarding such information, even to the point of justifying banning publication before the fact.
Of course, since Manning is in custody, he won’t be so hard to find. In fact, the word is that he’s been moved from Kuwait to Quantico.
There should be a worldwide manhunt for Assange with a shoot-to-wound order.
Category: Antiwar crowd, Usual Suspects
Maybe Ass-mange and Manning can bask in each others glory in the same cell…
Well, Jonn, in the interest fairness, it was Old Tanker, not moi. Although I agree completely with Old Tanker and Sporkmaster, I have stayed away from this subject due to being too pissed off to comment without going into full blown salty language response. That there are cowards calling themselves “courage to resist” that are backing the butthole play of manning and asswipe assburglar without thinking of exactly how this will impact the actual troops and their indigenious contacts shows them for the POS cowards they are.
Yes, as the Admiral says; they have blood on their hands.
Ass-Flange has now moved to the front of my “douche nozzles I will monkey stomp if I ever see them in an airport bar” list ahead of Michael Moore and a few others of their ilk.
I’ll take the A&B rap, no worries…
According to some, The Army Team wasn’t the only one that Manning was considering switching:
Was alleged Wikileaks leaker Bradley Manning’s crisis also one of personal identity?
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/20/was-alleged-wikileak.html#more
1:13:10 PM) bradass87: i just… dont wish to be a part of it… at least not now… im not ready… i wouldn’t mind going to prison for the rest of my life, or being executed so much, if it wasn’t for the possibility of having pictures of me… plastered all over the world press… as boy…
(1:14:11 PM) bradass87: i’ve totally lost my mind… i make no sense… the CPU is not made for this motherboard…
The phrase around “as a boy” and the use of the verb “transition,” jumped out, and reading through again, dots seemed to connect: is Manning struggling with gender identity?
Same cell?? BOTH of those asswipes should face a firing squad!!
Unfortunately, I don’t believe that Asange will ever spend a day in jail. Putting him on trial would make him a martyr on the international stage.
I still think they should do it. They should throw the book at him. But it won’t happen.
?”I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” ~Martin Luther King Jr
Assange and Manning may have blood on their hands, but what of the blood that is on Bush’s hands or Cheney’s hands? The list of people with blood on their hands could stretch for miles…..but sure, let’s imprison this guy for 50+ years.
If Brad Manning broke a law that he thinks unjust, I will give the kid a measure of respect IF he pleads guilty. If he truly believes his cause was pure and honorable, that seems to be his only option.
More likely though, his attorneys will attempt to paint a picture of a mentally damaged and confused youth, one who had no idea what impact his actions would have, and meant to do no wrong.
If the latter is the case, that seems to roundly negate all the premature exoneration of him.
A person who does something out of mental illness or ignorance cannot be a hero.
“Assange and Manning may have blood on their hands, but what of the blood that is on Bush’s hands or Cheney’s hands? The list of people with blood on their hands could stretch for miles…..but sure, let’s imprison this guy for 50+ years.”
So, if we can’t imprison everyone, imprison no one? Sound reasoning…
Just out of curiosity, how can Assange call my Brothers and Sisters in Arms War Criminals? I mean, its not like we release thousands of classified documents that will lead directly to the MURDER of hundreds of individuals or anything… On a serious note, The Talibs cut the nose and ears off of a 19 year old woman whose only crime was fleeing an abusive marriage. AND WE ARE THE WAR CRIMINALS?????????
@7 Anon
So someone who kills an abortion doctor because he has the “blood of innocent children on his hands” is free to break the law against murder? It was his conscience that told him the right to abortion is unjust… This really is the same thing, the Taliban may very well seek retribution on those that aided us, what do you think will happen to them if we decided to quit and leave?
David Harris, the Vietnam war resister (and Joan Baez’s ex), is a guy I would gladly sit down with to share a beer and meal, and I would shake his hand any day.
He publicly burned his draft card, resisted, was tried and convicted, and did his time in a Federal prison.
I respect that…even though I served in SVN as an enlisted man in a combat unit, I respect his stand and his courage to pay the price for that stand.
But not those that ran to Canada or Scandinavia…they have my utter and eternal contempt as cowards.
Ass-flange and this kid Manning deserve no mercy or respect…they have put US and Coalition personnel at risk, along with Afghans…they deserve a full measure of contempt and punishment, regardless of their motives.
In #7, we’re again treated to “it’s all Bush’s/Cheney’s fault”. No mention that someone else is in charge at all. The idea that you just can’t bring yourself to lay any of this at Owebowma’s feet and the fact that you won’t ID yourself doesn’t really give you a whole lot of credibility, #7.
Also, MLK apparently had a better concept of what one’s duty was than Assmange does, but you post the quote and then skip right past that concept.
I think it’s high time our government starts training assassins again….
I wish someone would give a consistent definition of what an “illegal war” or “war crime” is. The words are tossed around with wilad abandon.
Iraq was supposedly illegal because we didn’t have the UN’s approval. We didn’t hae the UN’s approval, of course, becase Saddam was paying off UN officials and key security council member states. But Afghanistan was ok’ed by the almighty UN. So it’s legal, right?
Skip right past that concept? How did I skip past the concept? Perhaps I don’t want to post my real name, and please forgive me for not coming up with some clever handle. As far as it is all Bush & Cheney’s fault, I never said it was ALL their fault….although they certainly had a very very large role in it. If you notice, I said the list of those with blood on their hands could stretch for miles. And yes, I do agree that Obama now has blood on his hands. It just kind of burns me up how these politicians are free from any kind of retribution or justice and yet a kid who may have very well been doing something based on conscience will spend the better part of his life in prison. Doesn’t seem like a really fair justice system to me, but thats just my opinion. And perhaps they will paint this guy as a mentally damaged and confused youth rather than him taking a stand and pleading guilty. I really don’t know and cannot venture a guess. But crucifying the guy before he stands trial isn’t really the answer either. But why is everyone so angry at one guy when there are so many others with much more blood on their hands?
#15 Anonymous:
You asked “But why is everyone so angry at one guy when there are so many others with much more blood on their hands?”
Because we have a system to assign the butcher to his job. Manning took the task upon himself without asking for permission, and has also killed indiscriminately, without allowing us to assign him his victims.
Does THAT answer your question?
15…what’s in your pipe?
What these 2 ass wipes did is beyond words or reason. I reckon you think the mosque should be built at ground zero, are you one of those types?
Had to go to work, so I couldn’t get back to this. Then, after reading Pinto’s post, I didn’t have to. The answer was right there, succinctly put.
And, I have no problem seeing Manning go away fro 50+ years, if he’s the leaker.
I look at it this way–if those videos lead (directly or indirectly) to the death of even ONE covert operative or informant, Manning needs to take the needle. Ditto Assange–if Obumbler ever grows the pair necessary to track this fuckstick down.