I got a feeling he'll kinda like it there.

The penalty for treason / spying is / should be execution after a court martial. I see no reason why this should not apply in PFC Manning's case.

Its been a long time since I signed a charge sheet, but, unless I misread this, it looks like Manning is significantly 'undercharged' - Article 92 and 134 (the general article), and not Articles 104 and 106a, which carry the death penalty? I haven't seen the details (and we probably never will), but this doesn't look like a charge sheet prepared with the goal of deterring similar misconduct ....

we need more men in the military willing to expose the travesty of what's happening in these wars. no 'state secrets' were revealed to the enemy...

the traitors are the politicians and leaders who lie to the soldiers and public about why we're fighting. Smedley Butler nailed it- War is a Racket.

Manning either committed treason, or espianage (spelling?) in a war zone. Both are punishable by death...

That being said, Wikileaks has engaged in warfare against the United States. We as a nation should return the favor and 1) destroy Wikileaks and 2) kill everyone connected with it. This follows the policy of Theodore Roosevelt (the good Roo) and "Speak softly and carry a big stick." By compromising our security, it's time for the big stick approach against Wikilieaks.

Rich Vail
Pikeville, MD
The Vail Spot @ blogspot.com

His brain should be vacuumed. He should be sentenced to death but not simply executed. This does not mean torture, although I am indifferent to any suffering he experiences. To me he should simply by pronounced legally dead and then every technical means available should be used to extract every scrap of information he possesses.

Vail and Life: Your attitudes are repellent.

AVI: I'm with Marty.

MT Lassen: That he might end up rotting in a stockade, there's no doubt. That he'll be a footnote, I agree, but an important one. Wikileaks is shining a light on the ugliness of our "kill 'em all" foreign policy. Manning helped put them on the map.

I look forward to Wikileaks of BoA release, if that's the bank in question. Next up, I hope they can get something on the TSA showing how male agents are targeting teen girls and young women without male companions for fondling. This is a pipe dream, though, seeing as the TSA keeps no records of what it does, intelligence having no role in their job.

I'm all for knowing our policies in war, etc. but there's no justification for leaking classified information. I think we can infer we have a "kill them all" policy when we kill at something like 10,000:1 ratio. Duh! (Which I don't have a problem with, BTW.)

Snow Man, if the TSA had such information, I seriously doubt it would qualify as "classified" and so should be accessible under FOI. Not all information is the same. Why doesn't Assange shine a light on Russia or China's policies? He'll be killed, that's why.

He dishonored his country and himself. His life is over. I feel for his family.

He's charged with violating regulations and violating article 134 of the UCMJ. No execution, no life sentence.

I agree with Veteran... He betrayed his country and his brothers-in-arm s. He only hurt the people around him. I have no respect for cowards.

America should take better care of its secrets. If a private that's been in the military 4 years can get access to this kind of information, in this volume, whether he's a traitor or not is besides the point: it is almost certain that foreign governments could have already accessed this and similar data, having funding, motivation and man power far in excess of Manning alone. This is a clear case of lax data security and the state department has no one but themselves to blame, and this apparent sloppiness is especially surprising coming from an organisation that helped pioneer both the protection and interception of such messages.

This piece of work should be the poster boy for why gays should not serve openly in the military. Vocal gays have their own agenda and defending the country is not one of them. Promoting a perverse unnatural lifestyle is.

Nothing but gossip here, move along. But Julian has insured that obama is a one termer, and that Hillary is toast. 2012 was so close wasn't it Hillary? Hillary is one pissed off bitch now, and I wonder whom she is going to eviscerate as payback. She'll start with the messiah.

Would be interesting to see the charges of child molestation against Assange in Sweden. Just setting out a challenge to the Swedes.

Army mom: Yes, I also hope that no son or daughter of mine ever betrays their country by deliberately leaking classified information in time of war.

"lots to consider"...... Since she was not a covert agent as defined by Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, then no assets were endangered. She was just a CIA employee no matter what that laughable, whacko movie that is coming out soon says. Manning knowingly tried to damage the U.S. and must have known that his criminal acts would endanger the lives of others. Hang him.

You can tell which comments are written by people who have never served, and don't honor those who do.
They are also Obama supporters. They are also the very same people who stood an cheered when John "I served in Viet Nam for four months" Kerry stood before the DNC convention and said he was "reporting for duty". For them, duty and honor and country is something to chuckle about. They will never give one single moment of sacrifice for either their fellow countrymen or their own country. They used up and threw out Cindy Sheehan just as quickly as they will throw out PFC Manning when he no longer is useful. They have no honor, and as such, need to heap false charges of dishonor on all of us who have served, and sacrificed, for our fellow countrymen in order to salve their feelings of cowardice and their knowledge that they have done nothing to forward the human condition one inch.

I served in Iraq with a soldier that later joined IVAW. Probably the only real soldier in all of IVAW, certainly the only one I know of, though I served with many. He was a dirtbag then, barely a soldier, and would have been kicked out if he wasn't so close to ETSing. And I doubt that he's changed any now.

@anonymous guy/girl who thinks they "can tell which comments are written by people who have never served." I think you're talking about me for one--keep barking all day, little dog. I was a Rakkasan scout at Ft Campbell (though I spent an awful lot of time at Benning). But keep wrapping yourself in the flag; it's my hope that Yon kinda depends on those like you, but he recognizes you for what you are.

@JoeBeach-->
There is a TON of evidence she was covert at the time. I HOPE the leaks didn't expose anyone--but I know Cheney/Libby/Ro ve did.
According to this Newsweek article titled "The CIA Leak: Plame Was Still
Covert" by Michael Isikoff and dated Feb. 13, 2006, special prosecutor
Patrick Fitzgerald made a determination on this matter.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11179719/site/newsweek/

"But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed
done 'covert work overseas' on counterprolifer ation matters in the past
five years, and the CIA 'was making specific efforts to conceal' her
identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion."

US Code (USC) TITLE 50, CHAPTER 15, SUBCHAPTER IV, § 426, (4) covers one
definition of being a covert agent.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00000426----000-.html

"The term 'covert agent' means?
(A) a present or retired officer or employee of an intelligence agency or
a present or retired member of the Armed Forces assigned to duty with an
intelligence agency?
(i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member is classified
information, and
(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within the last five
years served outside the United States; ..."

Under the above definition and the assertion by Patrick Fitzgerald, Valerie
Plame, also know as Valerie Wilson, was considered a CIA covert agent when
Robert Novak's July 14, 2003 column was published in the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102000874.html

"Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an agency
operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials
told me that Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the
Italian report. The CIA says its counterprolifer ation officials selected
Wilson and asked his wife to contact him."

I volunteer for the firing squad!

yeah, i just don't think any of these leaks equal to much of anything. heck, maybe the diplomatic stuff will help us--too bad we can't be so blunt without being undiplomatic. both sides are blowing it out of proportion, while the middle doesn't really care. there's no Gulf of Tonkin here--no My Lai, etc. move on. (ps--my views were mostly in sync with what turned out to be pat tilman's, who supported afghanistan but not iraq--except i supported iraq about 30%...i'm all for taking out horrible people (i'm looking at you kim jong il--and you're little fat, pug of a son too), but i don't think we should have to lie--and create one failed justification after another and falsify documents and sit our troops out on the border hoping for a preemptive attack on them--to do it.

He should be pardoned, I'm sure Ron Paul would do so. This issue divides the Republican Party, and shows who are true libertarians and who believe that government should be able to keep secrets from its citizens, especially secrets that indicate war crimes. Everyone who accuses him of putting lives in danger and at the same time endorse the wars Bush and Obama are prosecuting abroad are total hypocrites.

"Interesting breadth of commentary, from those advocating death and those advocating pardon. I'm pretty sure, for those neo-patriots on here, that the Founding Dudes intended for us to stay out of foreign wars and entangling allegiances in the first place. So if you want to follow the letter of the law and start hanging people for betraying our country, let's start with those at the top."

Which, no doubt, is why Jefferson sent the marines to "shores of " Tripoli. Oh, and yeah, this veteran says the guy should suffer a lot for his treason. Make no mistake, regardless of whether you agree with the politics of any war, it is a high crime to leak military secrets during that war - especially if you are a soldier.

If we were in a dictatorship, one could perhaps justify such behavior, but we are not. Like it or not, the war is being waged under our democratic system, by legally elected leaders of both parties, acting in accordance with the Constitution.

Joe, you were "a Rakkasan scout at Ft Campbell"? Sure.
Just like Micah Wright and Jesse MacBeth were Rangers.
Dude, really. Fake soldiers like you can be spotted a mile away.

That's too good for a POS like Manning. George Washington had it right. You HANG spies and traitors. It is what this "soldier" deserves.

"The penalty for treason / spying is / should be execution after a court martial. I see no reason why this should not apply in PFC Manning's case. - Don Eskridge, December 02, 2010"

Nah Don, they couldn't do that, because he's homosexual and was in an "awkward place" at the time of the leaks, so executing him could be construed as "bullying". He'll probably plead insanity(he wasn't "in his right mind at the time" you know) and get off(no pun intended, you sickos). Oh, but it is not like homosexuality has nothing to do with his mental illness, just ask his drag-queen boyfriend. But he was probably "in an awkward place" because this Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy had him all stressed out because he couldn't shout out to the troops that he was "gay". Because you know having sex with a member of your own gender is very important in the whole scheme of things. /S.

This whole silly event shows how vulnerable homosexuals are to security breaches. Bradley may not have a university degree but he joins the likes of the Cambridge Five and others of that ilk who became wrapped up in themselves and thought they were so much smarter than the rest of us mere mortals.

Having said that isn't it the whole bucket fascinating? Apart from screwing up US diplomacy for years to come it reads like the diary of a time traveller just returned to 2010.

Fortunately, there are sceret papers and projects that have not been compromised and for that we should be grateful.

For the record, Bush, Cheney, et al did not leak the Valarie Plaime story, it was Richard Armitage, a career state department employee. Scooter Libby was prosecuted for lying to an investigator, not leaking information. Valarie Plaime had not been in the field for at least 5 years prior to the leaks. Even if Bush or Cheney had released the information, the president (and VP by extension) can release classified information at his discresion.

A lot of you seem keen to execute Bradley - what I would ask is how someone of his grade would have access to this stuff if it really needs keeping under wraps? Oh, by the way, I think it's the sign of a civilised society that we no longer use the death penalty?

No matter whether Bradley gets executed, spends the rest of his life in jail or is freed, he has changed the course of history.
You psychopaths that are obsessed with war, that are brain washed with national security will be the last generation to think this way.
Good night and good luck...

He did not dishonour his country, his commanding officers back at the Pentagon did that. All he did was expose some of their lies.
You are a vet, did you gleefuly laugh after shooting at civilians? Did you shoot unarmed injured enemy personel in cold blood? Did you shoot kids? If you saw some of your comrades doing any of the above would you keep quite about it?

With all this information coming to light thru whatever channels, having such a polarization of our citizens and all, I have to contemplate the meanings of it all. This country supposedly has the philosophy our government is a government for the people, of the people, by the people. That causes me then to think that we are all spokes in the wheel. Are those of us who then become victims (9-11 etc.) of our foreign policy “innocent victims” as claimed by the MSM and “powers that be”?
We elect by the majority of votes our leaders & representatives and pray they do indeed represent the citizens in an honorable upright fashion afterwards as they step into their roles, even when I may not have voted for them. When they don’t, damn straight I want to know it, so as I have the information I need to cast a vote, which will then make me responsible for my government’s policies and actions. I also think I have to take into consideration that if a candidate wins an election by only 1 or 2% of the ballots cast that there is at least 49% or ½ the population does not want them representing them or agree with the candidate that gets elected by majority. Would this portion of the population, no matter the percentage, then be the “innocent victims” of some foreign retribution or the “innocent victims” of an economic policy of corporate favoritism? The rest being guilty.
Apparently this country has no problem spending an unimaginable amount of funds and human suffering (both other nations and ours) to exert its will on others whether it be for corporate interest (commonly referred to as National interests) by maintaining influence in a region, or by expelling by whatever means a leader that just doesn’t “play ball” with the U.S. Being accustom to relatively inexpensive gasoline prices do we ignore much of the misery our corporate interests produce?
Excessive force now days is routine in the form of drones, cruise missiles, navies, air power, artillery and all the support those forms require to operate are used against handfuls of insurgents, residents of their own sovereign countries that do not even own a Piper Cub in which to deliver anything. And everyone is so shocked that they use the only delivery system they have… themselves, in countries and cultures we refuse to understand, though their histories are easily available. So I can only assume that the reason our leaders refuse to understand and respect their histories is that they simply don’t care… or they think our will is stronger and it will turn out different this time. I wonder do the U.S. Armies ever think of themselves as the Red Coats when over there kicking in doors? If not, then why not?
The U.S. foreign policy in the Mideast is an ongoing factor to ramp up the dangers of retaliation against us. I am not afraid of “terrorist”. Would I rather fight them on our own soil? Yes. I won’t even go into all the reasons why.
I will say this one more thing. Motives are always the key to the confusing government actions that so continue to confound us. Rhetoric and propaganda continue to try and explain, mislead, and create reasons for it all. Once you realize the motives involved then the pieces fall into place and it all starts to make sense. The real motives are the deepest of our government’s secrets. I can only hope I/we continue to have glimpses by whatever means of the reality and motives of those that represent me. The rest of the world can and will be influenced by example. It is painfully obvious that force, manipulation of the law and dirty dealings is leading the way on all sides now. Suicide bombings, our armies murdering at random, lies and cover-ups go hand in hand with the insanity of war. This war now as all wars before, reveal the examples being shown and being followed.

We have to make an example of this dude,regardless of what has been leaked,we need to uphold our principles of OPSEC/PERSEC ..and its not up to each individual soldier (this particular one was spending his time behind the wire all day,stuffing his face with pogeybait no less)to suddenly embark on a selfrigtheous enterprise that in turn have a probability to hurt US and NATO troops and assets..

This guy violated the trust invested in him,not only by the US but by the whole of the coalition/ISAF force..
He needs to be made an example of..just for the magnitude of his crimes and the principle.

US born,Junior NCO of a NATO country's Army..ISAF 08/09 (Now in reserve status,MOS would correspond to 11B)

Former Cdn infanteer here: I've been both the escort, and the guy dancing the hatless jig, and a charge sheet does not mean he's guilty. Hell, it's not even proof that he was there at the crime. How abouts you let your military justice system go through the steps, and if he's found guilty, sound off then.

Pro Patria.

Manning and Assange are heroes. They have done nothing but show how deep the corruption and filth goes throughout both the U.S government and the world at large.

Snowman - I agree. There is no way we can have true freedom if the American public is not aware of "secrets" that reveal our true standing. There is no way to fight against TSA or any other protected agency, and we have no idea what our goals are in Afghanistan - or even Iraq, for that matter. Obama promised transparency - where is it?

Nearly 8 months have passed since the last comment and there has yet to be evidence of even one person being harmed by the leaked docs. However, it should be noted that when the Iraqis realized the depth of US criminal acts, they correctly refused to indemnify our troops which forced Obama to comply with the withdrawal date George W signed off on.

As far as I'm concerned, PFC Manning is responsible for bringing the war to an early end and saving many lives, of both our brave soldiers as well as innocent Iraqi civilians. Secondly, the State Department cables exposed the depth of corruption of some Mideast dictators. That combined with the self- immolation of the young Sudanese man are both credited with sparking the Arab Spring, which brought down the decades long repressive regimes of Sudan and Egypt. No small potatoes.

I have no problem with military plans during a war, weapon system designs, etc., being kept secret. In fact, I fully support it as these sorts of leaks would actually put us at risk and should rightly be considered treason. But the notion of keeping crimes or embarrassing activities secret from us (the one's that are paying for them) is at best questionable. After all, every time our government takes action, they are doing it in our name. I for one, have a serious problem with being complicit in things I have no knowledge about. You should , too.