U.S. Army soldier Bradley Manning — who, earlier this year, was found by the judge in his military trial to have have been illegally punished by the military for months during his captivity — has just been found not guilty of aiding the enemy, the most serious charge filed against him.
The ruling on that point was predicted by “Pentagon Papers” whistleblower Dan Ellsberg during my KPFK/Pacifica Radio interview with him in late 2010, just after Manning had been fingered as the likely leaker of thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks.
While Manning was acquitted today of “aiding and abetting al-Qaida” — an unprecedented charge in a leak case — he may still face more than 100 years in prison for the other charges, including espionage and computer theft, for which the military judge just found him guilty. That, despite the government’s “failure to demonstrate even one example of someone who was hurt” by Manning’s leaks, as CNN’s Jake Tapper just noted. Military convictions for sentences longer than a year receive an automatic appeal.
In January, the judge in the case, Army Col. Denise Lind, ruled that Manning’s imprisonment, which included some nine months of solitary, often unclothed confinement for 23 hours a day in a windowless cell, had been “excessive in relation to legitimate government interests”. At the time, rather than dismiss all charges as the defense had hoped, she reduced his potential life sentence by 122 days.
In an attempted plea bargain, Manning had confessed to many of the charges he was found guilty of today. Manning had admitted to having leaked reams of classified information to the media, including Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, diplomatic cables, and raw video of U.S. Apache helicopter gunships in 2007 gunning down 11 men in a public square in Iraq. Those killed in the attack included a Reuters journalist and his driver.
The government refused to bargain with the whistleblower, and tried him for aiding the enemy under the Espionage Act nonetheless.
In December of 2010, I discussed Manning’s case with Ellsberg, who has some experience in this sort of thing. He seems to have nailed it in his prediction concerning the unfounded allegation that Manning committed treason by aiding the enemy, the most serious charge then alleged against Manning, and the one for which he was acquitted today.
As Ellsberg told me at the time…
• The text transcript and audio from my full December 1, 2010 interview with Daniel Ellsberg is posted here…
UPDATE: Here is the Transcript [PDF] of Manning’s judge reading today’s verdict on every count against him. Sentencing will take place at 9:30am ET tomorrow morning.
UPDATE 12:31pm PT: Here are a few very quick reactions to the Manning verdict, from ACLU and others, that are worth noting…
Also, a few tweets of note…
Undeniable fact is that if #BradleyManning had illegally tortured people for the CIA, Obama would’ve protected him from trial. End of story.
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) July 30, 2013
Does anyone really believe that if Bradley Manning had committed war crimes instead of exposing them that he would be in bigger trouble?
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) July 30, 2013
What punishment did the commander in charge of Abu Ghraib torture get? $8,000 fine. #FreeBradleyManning
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) July 30, 2013
UPDATE 4:22pm PT: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange rings in with a statement excoriating the military court as “never a fair trial” and the Obama administration for “chipping away democratic freedoms in the United States” and “weakening freedom of the press.” Here’s the first part of Assange’s full statement:
Bradley Manning’s alleged disclosures have exposed war crimes, sparked revolutions, and induced democratic reform. He is the quintessential whistleblower.
This is the first ever espionage conviction against a whistleblower. It is a dangerous precedent and an example of national security extremism. It is a short sighted judgment that can not be tolerated and must be reversed. It can never be that conveying true information to the public is ‘espionage’.
President Obama has initiated more espionage proceedings against whistleblowers and publishers than all previous presidents combined.
In 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama ran on a platform that praised whistleblowing as an act of courage and patriotism. That platform has been comprehensively betrayed. His campaign document described whistleblowers as watchdogs when government abuses its authority. It was removed from the internet last week.
By acquitting Manning on the “aiding the enemy” count, Col. Lind avoided what could have been a dangerous precedent.
As observed by the renowned Harvard Law Professor Yochai Benkler, who testified as an expert witness on Manning’s behalf, the government’s prosecution of Manning entailed “dangerous logic” that is “unprecedented in modern American history” — one in which the government can charge “any person” with “aiding the enemy” for any leak to any news organization.
The government proceeded on the theory that even if someone leaks information to a news organization for the benefit of the American people, the fact that an “enemy” like al Qaeda has access to the ensuing public news accounts amounts to “aiding the enemy.”
Indeed, the prosecutors conceded that the same charge would apply even if Manning had leaked the information to The New York Times instead of WikiLeaks.
As the assault against Glenn Greenwald, waged by government and many who pretend to be journalists, has shown, it is but a short step from leveling such charges against government whistleblowers to those who perform the core 1st Amendment function of exposing the deceptions of those in government who claim to be acting on our behalf.
Side note: The ACLU’s Michael Gerson, writes that the question of whether Edward Snowden is a whistleblower is not a difficult one.
Good points Ernie.
Still:
The enemy, then, seems to be the free press.
Leaking to the presstitutes by government officials on the other hand, is not aiding and abetting (the enemy … the free press).
The Court was operating on Bin Ladin saw the files before his recent demise, or second coming. How can the public be so dumb as to swallow that rot? He was dead according to many main stream news services in 2002 from Marfan disease. How kangaroo can you get? Oh, I forgot the fake sentencing is coming next.
Ernie said @ 2:
Side note: The ACLU’s Michael Gerson, writes that the question of whether Edward Snowden is a whistleblower is not a difficult one.
Ah, but there’s the rub! National Security officials are, explicitly not “covered employee[s]”. Hence, the question is more “difficult” than you may think. (Though, the fact that they should be covered, should be a no brainer. That said, they aren’t, and it isn’t.)
So what court will hear the automatic appeal? Is it another kangaroo job like this one? Or something different? Who picks the judge?
It’s unconscionable that Barack Obama campaigned on supporting whistleblower protection and then aids and abets the unrelenting persecution of two of the biggest in U.S. history.
Have you no shame, sir?
I wonder too what an appeal will be. If the defense couldn’t challenge the Osama still alive nonsense then the whole proceeding became the Queen in Alice in Wonderland saying for no apparent reason, Off with her head! In this case, the Queen/judge is a woman who was chosen to deliver the phony pre-arranged verdict with a softer touch than if a man were the judge. Just like Obama was chosen to take the country into a shameful dictatorship because of his laid-back personality and his historic election as a man of mixed races makes him hard to dislike on one level.
Still not sure i’m sold on the significance of being acguited of ‘aiding the enemy’.
For Manning, that will be of little comfort as he spends the rest of his days behind bars. On top of that they found him guilty of espionage which will let the gov do whatever they want with him. For the rest of us, all they need do is clear the lowest bar and call us ‘enemy combatants’ and every right that we currently have will be removed(assuming we actually have those rights now).
Think of Egypt folks. It seems to me that one of our biggest problems is the setting up of military kangaroo courts as a challenge to our civil/criminal court system. Hence, the military is challenging our civil government. It is not a far stretch to see the power shift to military rule taking place.
Bradley Manning helped open our nations eyes. Now, are we a nation of laws or men?
oops *acquitted
We turned out to NOT be a nation of laws when the Jerkoff Banksters got away with crashing the entire world economy and got away with it. They go after Martha Stewart for an insider trading issue, yet they just can’t seem to go after Bank of America, Chase’s Jamie Dimon and screwing over the electricity users in California and all the robosigning, screwed up property law, etc. Not to mention HSBC laundering drug cartel money….We are not a nation of laws if the law doesn’t apply to the criminal banks. PERIOD.
Not that you need a lot of proof, but let’s just start with this:
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/jpmorgan-to-pay-410-million-in-power-market-manipulation-case/?hp&_r=0
Our government accepts bribes from the “Corporations are People, My Friend.” Too bad about that nation of laws thingy.
And my question is, after this, should several Military and Retired Generals, be alongside Manning? Unprecedented access too “classified” details, of activities, and unauthorized use of government equipment to “lovers” and others.
NSWFM, I couldn’t agree with you more, but in order to enter into a civil conversation with anyone if you lead off with your biggest fire power…people shut down and will not listen. Thus, polarity gets its feet! 🙂
And OH YEAH, did you see the interview of Conyers and Massie on Democracy Now?
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/2/reps_conyers_massie_on_bipartisan_campaign
Don’t let fake polarity trample our rights!
And lastly, Manning did the right thing opening our nations eyes to the gross and criminal actions of our own country!
http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-news-section/45-45/1427-video-us-apache-helicopter-kills-12-unarmed-iraqis
If they are fucking embarrassed it it their own fault, but how come I feel embarrassed by our convoluted form of Democracy? ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY! Secrecy is the death of Democracy, Sunlight and TRANSPARENCY is the antidote!
Crap, that should be “are the antidote.”
Ya know, I was offered a stripper job once, and I could have made a pile of money at a time when I sorely needed it as a single Mom..but I turned it down because I figured if I was ashamed to tell my child what I did…I probably shouldn’t do it! 🙂