U.S. Government spying on entire U.S., to nobody's surprise

[bentom187]

Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years

A military judge on Wednesday morning sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

Manning, 25, was convicted last month of multiple charges, including violations of the Espionage Act for copying and disseminating the documents while serving as an intelligence analyst at a forward operating base in Iraq. He faced up to 90 years in prison.

Manning is required to serve one-third of the sentence, minus three and half years of time served, before he is eligible for parole. That will be in eight years when he is 33.

Judge Denise Lind, an Army colonel, said Manning was dishonorably discharged. He was also reduced in rank and forfeits all pay.

Manning stood at attention, flanked by his attorneys, to hear the verdict with his aunt, Debra Van Alstyne, sitting behind him. He did not appear to react when the sentence was read.

As Manning was escorted out of the packed courtroom, more than half a dozen supporters shouted out to him, “We’ll keep fighting for you, Bradley! You’re our hero!”

The decision was immediately condemned by the American Civil Liberties Union.

“When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

The government had asked the judge to sentence Manning to 60 years. “There is value in deterrence, your honor; this court must send a message to any soldier contemplating stealing classified information,” said Capt. Joe Morrow, a military prosecutor. “National security crimes that undermine the entire system must be taken seriously.”

Defense lawyer David Coombs portrayed Manning as a well-intentioned but isolated soldier with gender identification issues, and he asked Lind to impose “a sentence that allows him to have a life.”

“He cares about human life,” said Coombs as the sentencing phase of the court-martial at Fort Meade ended last week. “His biggest crime was he cared about the loss of life he was seeing and was struggling with it.”

Manning also addressed the court and apologized for his actions, saying he was “sorry that I hurt the United States.”

Manning will receive a credit of 1,293 days for the time he has been confined prior to the sentence, including 112 days of credit for abusive treatment he was subjected to in the brig at the Quantico Marine Base.

Manning transmitted the first documents to WikiLeaks in February 2010, sending what came to be known as the Iraq and Afghanistan “War Logs” — field reports from across both theaters. Manning’s lawyers said he had become disillusioned by what he was seeing in Iraq and hoped that the public release of the secret material would prompt greater public understanding of the wars.

Manning established a relationship online with a person who is thought to be Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. As their personal correspondence deepened, Manning continued to transmit more material, including assessments of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and an enormous cache of diplomatic cables. He also leaked a video that showed a U.S. Apache helicopter in Baghdad opening fire on a group of Iraqis, including two journalists and children, that the helicopter crew believed to be insurgents.

According to his lawyers, Manning became more and more stressed in Iraq, wrestling with his sexuality and the breakup of a relationship. At one point, in April 2010, he sent an e-mail to a superior with the subject line “My Problem” and a photo of himself wearing a blond wig and lipstick.

On May 7, Manning was found on the floor of a supply room with a knife at his feet. After some brief counseling, he was returned to his workstation. Later that same day, he struck a fellow soldier and was removed permanently from the secure environment where he worked.

Following these events, Manning boasted to hacker Adrian Lamo that he had been working with WikiLeaks. After engaging Manning for several days, Lamo informed Army investigators and the FBI about the breach of information and provided them with his chat logs with Manning.

Manning was arrested in Iraq on May 27, 2010.

Legal proceedings against Manning began in December 2011 and, in February of this year, Manning pleaded guilty to 10 lesser included charges. The trial portion of the proceedings began June 3, and on July 30, Lind found Manning guilty of 20 of the 22 charges he faced.

 

[bombadil.360]

what has been exposed however is that you are prepared to voice anything if it can somehow be used in your stance. ie you were implying that the whole snowden story might be a lie, or a false flag event, or what? now it turns out you don't doubt the leaks legitimacy after all as you are voicing concern for any sensitive operational information geting into the wrong hands. thats not intellectually honest.

actually, what I'm doing is showing you the other side of the story, the one you spoke about as being good to know, and asking the question, or rather, noting that such is as probable as the pro-Snowden stance of most posters in this thread.

not only that, but I'm also saying that provided the info we do have coming at us from the mass media, we have no way to make any conclusions except for frail speculations with the mass media info.

I like Evo as much as I like Obama, Merkel, or Morsi and the whole bunch from the whole spectrum; like them in the sense that they are all equally incompetent for the job.

peace

 

[gaiusmarius]

actually, what I'm doing is showing you the other side of the story, the one you spoke about as being good to know, and asking the question, or rather, noting that such is as probable as the pro-Snowden stance of most posters in this thread.

not only that, but I'm also saying that provided the info we do have coming at us from the mass media, we have no way to make any conclusions except for frail speculations with the mass media info.

I like Evo as much as I like Obama, Merkel, or Morsi and the whole bunch from the whole spectrum; like them in the sense that they are all equally incompetent for the job.

peace

sure, that part isn't what i was talking about. showing the possible consequences is good, it's being asked for all the time since this started. but so far all they can really say is that it has hampered their secret illegal spying programs. if they didnt abuse these programs there would be nothing to leak. it's the fact that billions of peoples correspondences and discussions have been stolen and stored that makes this leak interesting. if they were only using it to follow the activities of al kaida and their supporters it would be accepted by the masses. that was what they were given permission to do after all. so who's really risking harm, those breaking the law and spying on everyone all the time, or those being spied on? how can you have a democracy or even a fair system if certain powers can look through their opponents lives as if they were living in a glass house. the one who can spy is the one with the power, the potential to blackmail people in supposed power is too great to allow this in any free system of living together.

 

[bentom187]

Murray Rothbard - The Government Is Not Us

[YOUTUBEIF]kqoBZLSm1WA[/YOUTUBEIF]

 

[bombadil.360]

sure, that part isn't what i was talking about. showing the possible consequences is good, it's being asked for all the time since this started. but so far all they can really say is that it has hampered their secret illegal spying programs. if they didnt abuse these programs there would be nothing to leak. it's the fact that billions of peoples correspondences and discussions have been stolen and stored that makes this leak interesting. if they were only using it to follow the activities of al kaida and their supporters it would be accepted by the masses. that was what they were given permission to do after all. so who's really risking harm, those breaking the law and spying on everyone all the time, or those being spied on? how can you have a democracy or even a fair system if certain powers can look through their opponents lives as if they were living in a glass house. the one who can spy is the one with the power, the potential to blackmail people in supposed power is too great to allow this in any free system of living together.

I dunno if we have any evidence of how has this been abused?

potential for black-mail? like what? watched some porn? visited icmag? you really think you can ruin someone's life over that?

if they are being black-mailed for kiddie-porn or equally ethically bogus activity, I say fuck them, let them be black-mailed, jailed, or whatever not nice you can think of.

ask yourself this question: basing yourself on your internet activity, and phone conversations: do you think anyone can really demonize you with said info to the point you'll be willing to be black-mailed?

or are there more serious things going on?

peace

 

[gaiusmarius]

oh common i'm not some big shot politician. and it's not just internet history it's every phone call and email/sms/chat/social media messages and posts. having people spied on and their private info retained without a warrant is just irresponsible, it benefits only the dishonest in gov. once the medical records are all digitized that will be included if it isn't already, not to forget all financial information, don't you just love all the freedom?

and yes i don't care what the black mail is for, black mail is illegal and specially evil when used to pressure lawmakers/judges/reporters/politicians/whoever, to see things your way. if they are pedos, let them go to jail, don't keep it hidden so you can make that person dance to your warmongering, spying or torturing tune.

edited to add: yes we have their own records showing that they abused even their own inadequate and lose rules hundreds of thousands of times.

 

[BudToaster]

... or are there more serious things going on?

peace

well, that's the question isn't it?

it's one thing to hand off decisions to our elected representatives, but thanks to Snowden we get just a glimmer of what that means.

i can only imagine what it would be like to have access to the entire internet packet stream ... and having a place to store it. Tor? busted. maybe sell access for a slice of time. oh, man. i can't think big enough.

 

[OrganicBuds]

All this doesn't matter. I mean really, "what does it matter?" Hillary will be our next president and she will fix everything. If not, "what does it matter?"

All I know is I am changing my name to Benghazi, that way nobody in the government will look into me.

 

[backyardbogfan]

I'm guessing we have a Shadow Cheney and ilk/Military/Judicial govt that does what it pleases and works actively for and with rich and corps to perpetrate bubble after bubble on Americans and the world for their own gain. I also believe the NSA has something on Obama for him to break every pledge.

 

[mpd]

During the Bush Administration the FBI had 75 warrant applications denied by the FISA court. So far, Obama has more applications than both terms of Bush (the younger)....

Total applications denied by FISA courts? None. Not a single one.

 

[SpasticGramps]

we almost lost detroit,

Ehhh, Detroit is lost my friend. No almost about that.

BANKRUPT

Spare a dime, sir?

 

[SpasticGramps]

I dunno if we have any evidence of how has this been abused?

potential for black-mail? like what? watched some porn? visited icmag? you really think you can ruin someone's life over that?

b, you don't strike me as the naive type. You seem to see the world for what it is. Run by this asshole or that asshole. Doesn't matter what patch of dirt you are standing on.

If the potential for great abuse is there, then the assumption is that it will be abused because that is man's collective nature.

It's a totalitarian apparatus. Use your imagine with history as context.....

 

[bombadil.360]

well, that's the question isn't it?

it's one thing to hand off decisions to our elected representatives, but thanks to Snowden we get just a glimmer of what that means.

i can only imagine what it would be like to have access to the entire internet packet stream ... and having a place to store it. Tor? busted. maybe sell access for a slice of time. oh, man. i can't think big enough.

we already knew our governments to be incompetent and hungry for power way long before Snowden, so I still really dunno what has he brought to the table in terms of paradigm shifting information?

honestly, imo, this whole mess is the fault of every single American voter, they are the ones who are still voting for the same old turd-faces, and any info Snowden has revealed won't change a thing.and like OrganicBud cynically comments, the solution to all this will lie in electing some other goofball right out of the same group of turd-faces.

this is why democracy does not work, it is the rule of the mob, and the mob are a majority of ignoramuses.

Spastics, I dunno how competent these spy-programs can be, considering the massive amount of info and the classic incompetence of "public servants".

that's what my imagination paints for me: a government employee hired through nepotism, obviously incompetent and with low i.q trying to deal with the technological and analytical challenges of such massive amounts of info lol...

peace

 

[lord bongington]

nsa can suck my balls

 

[Stoner4Life]

just in case you didn't realize how much support WikiLeaks has garnered for Ed Snowden, yes this is slightly old info but during the two weeks after it was announced that WikiLeaks was supporting Snowden they received a grand total of $1,600 in contributions. older info or not I'm certain his popularity hasn't risen much at all.

obviously Snowden = kiss of death.


somewhere in Dave Letterman's
Top Ten List of reasons Edward
Snowden leaked that NSA info:

Couldn't figure out any other way to break up with his fiance.




it seems that I like the guy just about as much as everyone else.......

 

[gaiusmarius]

like? who needs to like him? it's not about him, he's just the messenger who is getting the masses to finally see and discuss the surveillance state. wikileaks is off grid, no credit cards no banks will work with them. they are getting their donations on the quite nowadays.

i judge Eds success by the effects it's having, finally this is out in the open and people are demanding more info and getting it. even the politicians are beginning to see that this system needs to change.

 

[Jericho Mile]

Didn't they just declassify the rest of the Nixon tapes? Boy what a game changer. Not. Watergate..the Pentagon Papers...and still..the procession marches on...40 yrs later

Snowden gets his 15 minutes of fame...and in another couple yrs..nobody will remember his name

 

[BudToaster]

this is why democracy does not work, it is the rule of the mob, and the mob are a majority of ignoramuses.

perhaps a mob is better than a despot.

democracy just opens a space to work. and anybody can operate in that space. some people have an easier time than others. but basically it gets down to dealing with my own demons, how much i can achieve. i suppose i can do that under a despot, but i'm not super motivated (actually, a lowly motivated over achiever) and this system is the only one i've known.

that's what my imagination paints for me: a government employee hired through nepotism, obviously incompetent and with low i.q trying to deal with the technological and analytical challenges of such massive amounts of info lol...

it won't be employees, it will be done by computer. that's the thing. the possibilities are endless.

 

[gaiusmarius]

i do agree that pure democracy is bs, might as well ask 2 wolfs and a sheep to vote on what to do about dinner.

you need a constitution and bill of rights to rule on things that shouldn't be up to the majority. even if 99% of the population want to rob and kill the other 1%, they can't do so, because the individual rights of people take precedence to the will of the majority. democracy can only work if the constitution and bill of rights are strong and being enforced on the gov.

 

[floralheart]

nsa can suck my balls

Wouldn't it fuck with you if two guys in trench coats showed up and sucked your balls.