Bradley Manning can’t be a hero AND a victim

[vminfla]

Their pre-trial defense focused on their client’s “gender identity issues” and personal struggles as a homosexual in the military, and how these factors may have diminished his mental capacity at the time of the alleged offenses.

Obviously, one cannot be anointed as a hero if he was mentally incapacitated at the time of said heroic actions.

Not even Manning’s biggest critics would expect his defense team to walk into court and start ranting about government transparency and “the fog of war” and how the heroic nature of his actions somehow overshadows the treasonous nature of his actions, but he’d probably have a better chance of freedom if they did, because the “gay defense,” aside from being a slap in the face to every gay or gender-confused soldier who has ever served in the military without being accused of treason, is legally no more relevant than the “Twinkie defense.”

The truth is, anyone could have stolen and leaked these documents. Any soldier with Manning’s level of security clearance could have leaked these cables. And yet, anyone didn’t. Bradley Manning did. And despite the Glenn Greenwalds and Jane Hamshers of the world trying to make a “true American patriot” out of Manning, his own attorneys say he did it not because of patriotism or heroism but because he was mentally incapacitated by gender identity confusion and from living in a “hyper-hetero” environment with “a bunch of hyper-masculine trigger happy ignorant rednecks” in the Army.

http://www.angryblacklady.com/2011/12/28/bradley-manning-cant-be-a-hero-and-a-victim/

Interesting take on Manning's victim defense.

[Boston_Chemist]

1. I am detecting a bit of appeal to populism in the defense attorney strategy.

Why should his gender identity be the reason for his actions?

Interpreting his actions as a response to the brutality of the military's actions in AfPak is an egg on the face of the establishment?

This is turning out to be a very subtle thing.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

2. I thought he was stationed in a Military Intelligence type unit

"hyper-masculine trigger-happy ignorant rednecks" probably don't make up the majority of the intelligence/analyst types.

But, hey, it's a defense, sort of. He doesn't have too many cards to play, given that his attorney has more-or-less stated that Manning leaked the documents. Now he's going to present some sort of mitigating evidence to a panel of people who usually hear the words "No Excuse, Sir!".

Twinkie Defense. I haven't heard of that one in a long time. I prefer the Chocolate Mousse defense. That stuff will cause brain freeze and spasms. I think Manning is in for a long stay in Leavenworth.

[saras]

3. Sure he can. Victor Jara.

The military court system is inherently unfair and biased. Anything his defense team does is merely legal maneuvering. "I wasn't there, I didn't take it when I was, and I gave it back anyways" is a perfectly normal criminal defense. If ANY of the three are convincingly demonstrated, the person gets off. And the "truth" has damned little to do with it, like it does in most court cases.

[bemildred]

4. Why not?

Stallone, Willis, and Schwarzenegger pull it off all the time.

[Bucky]

6. Raising the obvious question...

who would play Bradley Manning in the movie? Here's my candidate.

[bemildred]

7. I would favor Hasselhoff myself.

[Bucky]

8. Win!

"I'll be readehhh!!"

[Bucky]

5. I've said the same thing about Jesus. No one listens.

"Fools! You fools, someday the world will understand!!!"

[EFerrari]

11. LOL

I think I've run into this person on Twitter. Five minutes I'll never get back.

[Luminous Animal]

9. It is an ignorant take on Manning's defense...

Here is Greenwald's thoughts on this:
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/22/various_matters_15/singleton/#comment-2543071

"I talked about this on Democracy Now the other day and have been speaking with various people about it as well. I of course have my preferences for what Manning should do, and that is strongly in favor of arguing "justification": the noble whistleblower defense.

But I don't feel comfrotable viewing Manning as an abstract cause. He's a just-turned-24-year-old kid whose life is on the line, literally, and whatever he and his lawyers think has the best chance of keeping him out of a cage for the next six decades or avoiding a death sentence is something they should do, no matter how distasteful it is to me or even politically counter-productive it might be.

I haven't seen all the evidence. The proceedings are shrouded in secrecy. And I don't know what the preferences are of the client: Manning. So I'm really loathe to second-guess what they're doing.

Of course I hate seeing them blame his noble acts on a mental illness, and hate even more having gender issues characterized that way (though I am sure that being a 22-year-old with gender struggles in the middle of the Iraq war - in a military that bans you even from being openly gay - does produce real psychological distress). I would love for Manning to stand up in court and say: I did it and I should have done it - my duty as a soldier compelled it.

But it's not my preferences that should govern their strategy.

You can make the argument, as you have, that public opinion is their best shot at getting some leniency. Maybe: public outrage over his treatment in detention is clearly what resulted in improved conditions.

But I can easily see the other side: that "military justice" is so skewed in general, and in this case so pre-programmed to ensure conviction, that trying the case in public could just alienate the military judges and make things worse. I can see how they might conclude that their best hope is to play to their prejudices - have some mercy: look at how mentally ill he is - and I just can't bring myself to say he shouldn't do that if he thinks it's best for his interests.

To be honest, watching the whole thing is something I'm having a hard time doing: I think his conviction is so inevitable, and the injustices that will produce it so overwhelming, that it just makes me ill contemplating what's happening to him."

[EFerrari]

10. What a terribly thought out and badly written piece this is.

lol

Of course he can be a hero and a victim. Ever hear of a false dilemma, lady? The logic teacher whose class you failed did.

[Little Tich]

12. Bradley Manning exposed wrongdoings in the US military.

Hopefully, this will improve the overall standards of military personnel of all ranks. I think he did the right thing, but apparently the military doesn't have a soft spot for whistleblowers.

As for the defense, I think they are grasping at straws. They are well aware of the fact that Bradley Manning faces a daunting sentence, and are trying to at least give him a few years less in prison.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. He exposed more than that

There's no way he could actually read all the documents he downloaded and dumped to the CDs. He likely had no idea what he exposed.

Whistleblowers are usually more focused.

If anything improves in the military, it will be the way classified documents are handled. No more carte-blanche access for army privates. It's hard to believe the officers were that lax. Maybe Manning should have some company at Leavenworth.

[JDPriestly]

13. What is the source for the information about what is going on at the trial?

Is the trial open to the public?

Who is reporting on it?

This sounds like a second-hand account from a source with a definite point of view.

There are things I like about what Manning is alleged to have done and things I don't like about it.

But I notice a sudden influx of people to DU who are posting anti-Manning information. It's kind of a curious development. I wonder where this is coming from. Are we seeing some of that military psy-ops stuff?

My opinion: our government is so obsessed with secrecy about trivial non-secrets that it is inviting rebellion from those who know "secrets" that aren't worth keeping. When people really believe that they have been told secrets that are vital to the security of their loved ones, they don't violate their trust. Think of the many people who worked on the Enigma and never told anyone.

But when people think that the "secrets" they are supposed to keep don't deserve to be kept secret, they do violate their trust.

In the Manning situation, many, many people were given access to the "secrets," most of which were not worth the cost of the "secret" stamp.

You can be sure that not all of the people who were sent the e-mails containing the secrets kept them secret. That's because much of the information was just gossip and people cannot resist repeating gossip. It's just human nature.

Manning is getting so much flak because he allegedly just released these "secrets" to the world. Technically, it was a disloyal thing to do, but at least he wasn't as disloyal as the Bush administration -- which lied us into the War in Iraq that wasted so much American blood and treasure.

And while it was disloyal to the American government, I don't know that it was all that disloyal to the American people who finally got to find out how our diplomatic corps earns its keep.

Manning embarrassed the powers that be, but I would be surprised if any of the "secrets" he is alleged to have released caused any detriment to American security other than that embarrassment.

[99th_Monkey]

14. "the treasonous nature of his actions" <== Your words

prejudging Manning to be "guilty" until proven innocent much?

No problemo ... Prez. Obama did the same thing.

[vminfla]

15. Actually, those are Manning's words

Manning made a confession.

[99th_Monkey]

17. Manning has NOT "confessed" to committing treason. Not his motive

to betray his country, but rather to serve his country by releasing the truth
for the whole world to see, and literally risking his life to do so.

Please stop tryinng to put incriminating words in Manning's mouth.

[vminfla]

18. His motives were money and approval from Assange

He received payment from a foreign agent in exchange for government data. That is, by definition, treason.

[EFerrari]

20. False, like so many of the other claims in this thread.

[vminfla]

21. When you say "False", what you mean to say is Inconvenient Truth

That Manning received remuneration was one of the findings of facts that came out during the trial.

[Luminous Animal]

22. Hahahaha!!!

[bigwillq]

19. Why not? Obama is. (nt)