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Wired Releases Full Manning/Lamo Chat Logs

bill_mcgonigle writes "After more than a year, Wired has finally released the (nearly) full chat logs between Adrian Lamo and Bradley Manning. Glen Greenwald provides analysis of what Wired previously left out. Greenwald writes: 'Lamo lied to and manipulated Manning by promising him the legal protections of a journalist-source and priest-penitent relationship, and independently assured him that their discussions were "never to be published" and were not "for print." Knowing this, Wired hid from the public this part of their exchange, published the chat in violation of Lamo's clear not-for-publication pledges, allowed Lamo to be quoted repeatedly in the media over the next year as some sort of credible and trustworthy source driving reporting on the Manning case.'"

62 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. User Settings by crow_t_robot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Which checkbox in the user settings do I have to check to get an e-mail update when the story comes out about Lamo finally getting his skull caved in with a steel pipe?

  2. Who are these people? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The summary should have at least once sentence saying who these people are. I don't recognize the names "Adrian Lamo" and "Brandley Manning".

    While we don't need the whole detailed story, at least some context would be helpful. Even if I had read about these people and whatever shenanigans they're involved in earlier, I might not remember it now.

    1. Re:Who are these people? by crow_t_robot · · Score: 5, Funny

      I guess the moon still doesn't get television or internet yet.

    2. Re:Who are these people? by abigsmurf · · Score: 4, Funny

      You don't know? Wow, you're almost as clueless as Ashley Highvale! Randal Alfredson must be rolling in his grave right now.

    3. Re:Who are these people? by rbrausse · · Score: 4, Funny

      The comment should have at least once sentence saying who these people are. I don't recognize the names "Ashley Highvale" and "Randal Alfredson".

      While we don't need the whole detailed annotation, at least some context would be helpful. Even if I had read about these people and whatever shenanigans they're involved in earlier, I might not remember it now.

    4. Re:Who are these people? by c++0xFF · · Score: 2

      It's called journalism. It only takes 10 or fewer words to give that context, and your readers are much better off for it.

      But you're right -- this is slashdot. If you're expecting proper journalism, you're looking in the wrong place.

  3. Reward him by KiloByte · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Let's just hope his Medal of Honor won't be posthumous...

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    1. Re:Reward him by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm pretty sure KiloByte is talking about Manning's Medal of Honor. That being said the Army does not value people who divulge classified information, even information that the people have a right to know or that the people should know. In the Army, you are a cog in a machine. You are not to think. You are not to feel. You are to do the will of your superiors. Anything else is wrong, so I am sure that Manning will not get that Medal of Honor. The MPs that arrested him and the guards at the jail that were holding him are more likely to get it for guarding such a "dangerous criminal".

    2. Re:Reward him by LordLimecat · · Score: 2

      You also dont generally get a Medal of Honor for violating your solemnly given oaths.

    3. Re:Reward him by elashish14 · · Score: 2

      GP was obviously trolling, suggesting that the journalist did the honorable thing here by betraying Manning, who was blowing the whistle on an untold number of military lies and atrocities.

      It's disgusting to me that people think that the military should be able to do such things and get away with it. It's even worse when they think they should be covered up afterwards for reasons like national security or confidentiality protocols, as if those were more important than making those bastards pay for what they do and making sure it doesn't happen again. When something is classified just because someone's ass would be roasted if the public were told about it, that's definitely abusing the system, and some oversight is sorely needed.

      --
      I have left slashdot and am now on Soylent News. FUCK YOU DICE.
  4. Facts: Lets be clear on some facts here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nothing Manning released has been shown to result in ANY injuries or fatalities. Almost all of the data was 4+ months old. However it DID show a lot of reprehensible behavior on the part of the US government, assist several nations in mending hurt ties with each other and generally show that the US is not being as transparent as it should be with its people. There was far too much information marked top secret for no true reason other than protecting the image of certain diplomats doing stuff they shouldn't be.

    Does this mean I support the release of top secret information? NO. Would I have done what manning did? No, but I'm glad he did. It gave the american people a better idea of how their government is acting. I was not proud to be an american for a while.

    1. Re:Facts: Lets be clear on some facts here by mikael_j · · Score: 2

      How did Manning's leak in any way result in that happening?

      --
      Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
    2. Re:Facts: Lets be clear on some facts here by abigsmurf · · Score: 2

      "Nobody got hurt" isn't a defence. I'd imagine a whole lot of informants were shit scared (with fairly good reason) because of these leaks, that's more than enough to show in a court that real harm has been done.

      Besides which, it's not like insurgents leave handy notes saying "We killed this guy because of wikileaks!". Insurgents are known to target collaboraters and even if 100% of the names were removed, it's still possible to have a pretty good guess as to people's IDs based on places and other details. If someone was killed over these leaks, it'd be just another civilian who died in the conflict. It's not as if the military would publically say "John Smith was killed because he was an informant", I'd imagine it wouldn't make life all to pleasent for his widow or kids.

      What exactly did we learn? That field reports tend to be inaccurate because being shot at kinda affects your ability to write masterful prose? Most of the incident reported in the leaks were known about already, it's just nobody cared about them. The big scandal, the helicoptor incident, despite it initially being edited in the most sensationalist way possible (with the full version only being released silently later), it showed helicopter pilots following procedure in an areas with reported gunfire when dealing with what looked to be a group of insurgents. It was a tragic mistake ultimately but it was hardly a case of gunhappy pilots not caring about who they kill, yes if you paused it correctly and looked real close, you could see a portion of one of the kid's clothes but that's with hindsight, unlimited time and no pressure or danger.

    3. Re:Facts: Lets be clear on some facts here by LordLimecat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There was far too much information marked top secret for no true reason other than protecting the image of certain diplomats doing stuff they shouldn't be.

      And this terrible crime is truly worth having our clearanced military personelle deciding that its time to violate his oaths and divulge whatever information he saw fit-- even that which shows no "horrible crimes"-- to the entire world.

      Truly we want a vigilante system where oaths arent worth the paper theyre printed on.

    4. Re:Facts: Lets be clear on some facts here by DeadCatX2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, the full version of the helicopter video was released at the same time.

      And you ignore the interviews with the members of that very squadron who say such things were common place. One of the interviews was the guy who was saving the kid.

      Finally, I bet the people who were most scared were the ones whose improper behavior was being shielded by the US Government. Look what the Tunisians did when they found out about the extravagant lifestyle of Ben Ali and his family.

      --
      :(){ :|:& };:
    5. Re:Facts: Lets be clear on some facts here by Hatta · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you're so hard up on oaths, let's give Obama and Bush the same treatment we've given Manning. They have both utterly violated their oath to protect the Constitution.

      Until people at the top start going to jail for their crimes, I can't hold anyone beneath them responsible. I'd much rather the military be ineffectual due to no one following orders than to have a well oiled machine under the command of criminal thugs like Bush and Obama.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    6. Re:Facts: Lets be clear on some facts here by jcr · · Score: 3, Informative

      However it DID show a lot of reprehensible behavior on the part of the US government,

      Not just reprehensible. Illegal.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  5. Re:Blah Blah Blah by darjen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not only did Manning do nothing wrong, he did democracy a HUGE favor. Maybe even bought it an extended life.

    I have absolutely no respect for Wired, fuck them.

  6. Netcraft Confirms It by MasterOfMagic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Adrian Lamo and Kevin Poulsen are rats and not to be trusted, and Wired is no longer the magazine of record for the technology industry. I have officially cancelled by subscription, and I seriously suggest that anybody who is interested in such a trashy rag read Vallywag for free.

    For more evidence of Adrian Lamo being a lying rat bastard, listen to him try to explain himself as following his conscience in Informants Panel at The Next HOPE.

    PS: He also lies about never having been controlling or being the subject of a restraining order. He is a real piece of trash.

    1. Re:Netcraft Confirms It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      "PS: He also lies about never having been controlling or being the subject of a restraining order. He is a real piece of trash."

      Which all wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that he himself committed hacking offences some years ago and was trying to get everyone onside with shit along the lines of "Oh I was just doing it to try and bring attention to security problems".

      The guy is the worst fucking kind of hypocrite, when he breaks the law claiming he was doing it for the good of the country and businesses it's one thing, but someone else does it and he's straight to the FBI.

      Lamo is hypocritical scum of the highest order. He should be in that jail cell simply for being a massive cunt, not Manning.

    2. Re:Netcraft Confirms It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When you are forced to work for a corrupt organization are you bound by an oath to the same? You know you are not! History has told you,

    3. Re:Netcraft Confirms It by deadhammer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Cut the bullshit. "Solemn oaths" don't make massacring a crowd of unarmed civilians and covering it up afterwards okay. What Manning swore an oath to was his country. Covering up war crimes is not serving your country. Dress it up with all the tradition and macho "my country right or wrong" posturing that you want, it's still a war crime.

      --
      I'll be honest, we're throwing science against the wall to see what sticks. -Cave Johnson
    4. Re:Netcraft Confirms It by MasterOfMagic · · Score: 5, Informative

      FTFA:

      (10:23:34 AM) info@adrianlamo.com: I’m a journalist and a minister. You can pick either, and treat this as a confession or an interview (never to be published) & enjoy a modicum of legal protection.

      That sure sounds like a fucking solemn oath to me.

    5. Re:Netcraft Confirms It by dcollins · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic"

      Mission Accomplished. (Especially the "against domestic enemies" of the Constitution part.)

      --
      We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
    6. Re:Netcraft Confirms It by SethJohnson · · Score: 2
      More than those two, Wired itself has been untrustworthy since the Conde Nast acquisition. Since then, advertorial has increased dramatically. The most recent, glaring, example was the piece fawning about Symantec staff dissecting stuxnet. Read through that piece and count how many references there are to the size and scale of Symantec's resources.

      Of the article's 54 usages of the name "Symantec", the 3rd one down the page is a classic example of PR designed to raise a company's profile among its competitors:

      In 2002 he took a job with an antispam firm, which was gobbled up by Symantec soon afterwards. O Murchu eventually transferred to the corporate giant's Culver City office, leaving Dublin for Southern California.

      The article is absolutely riddled with praise like that.

      Seth Johnsnon

    7. Re:Netcraft Confirms It by IgnoramusMaximus · · Score: 2

      ... Our civilian casualties for this war are far far far lower than in any prior war that I can think of ...

      Iraq affair alone had around a million of civilian casualties by various credible estimates, about 80000 of which were directly confirmed. Plus about 2.5 million refugees.

      Unless you mean World Wars I and II or or one of the Japanese Imperial or US Imperial Conquests, a typical conflict in the 19th century had less then 100,000 casualties on both sides, vast majority of them soldiers. 20th century conflicts, such as the Spanish Civil War where Hitler's forces (yes, we are talking genuine swastika-totting Nazis here) engaged on behalf of Franco had around 500,000 casualties (measured in a similar way as those in Iraq) and about 450,000 refugees.

      And so on.

      With such mendacious, apologist, revisionist bullshit at the very start, any arguments of yours that follow have pretty much zero credibility.

  7. Re:Ha ha by Rexdude · · Score: 4, Insightful

    swore to obey the orders of the President, and the officers appointed over him

    I'm no US citizen, but I was under the impression that American soldiers' loyalty was to the US Constitution, and not to any individual person(s).

    --
    "..One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them, and in the darkness BIND them."
  8. Bye bye Wired by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wired just lost all credibility for journalistic integrity. Don't expect anyone to talk to them off-the-record now. I wouldn't be surprised if advertisers pulled their ads too, just like they did with the News of the World when the full extent of the hacking scandal came to light. Within days the paper was shut down for good.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    1. Re:Bye bye Wired by Clever7Devil · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm resisting the urge to be snarky... I understand that this has toasted their ability to speak to tech-saavy people off-the-record, but I don't expect them to lose any advertising over it. As far as credibility, since when have we required that from our news media? I always just pick the outlet that best fits my confirmation bias.

      The phone "hacks" were on lovable, empathetic characters: Hugh Grant, the royals, soldiers, little girls. Bradley Manning, on the other hand, has been suffering a character assassination from day one. You lose advertising by going against public opinion, not necessarily from just being bastards.

      --
      "By the time they had diminished from 50 to 8, the other dwarves began to suspect 'Hungry.'" -Gary Larson
  9. Oath by OpenYourEyes · · Score: 4, Informative

    The oath that one takes when enlisting is:

    I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

    1. Re:Oath by Methos137 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Then I ask what the UCMJ says about when the Constitution is at odds with the current PotUS or the Order of the Officers above him? Or in any combination? At what point does the soldiers responsibility become to defend the Constitution of the United States against *all* enemies, foreign and domestic, even if those enemies are the President and the appointed officers?

    2. Re:Oath by ledow · · Score: 2

      I think it's no accident that the allegiance to the constitution and domestic enemies comes first. Just because the President orders you to bomb a friendly country, or Washington, for no reason doesn't mean you have to.

      The problem, as always, is proving it and having others give you a fair trial at which to do so. Apparently the US doesn't believe in those yet.

      The musician James Blunt used to be an army officer for the UK. While in Kosovo, he was ordered by an American superior at NATO command to retake an airport held by Russian forces. He deliberately and directly disobeyed that perfectly valid order, and was later backed by his UK superiors in doing so.

      It's just a matter of context, and who backs you up, and why, and what chances you're given to explain yourself. If you're not given the chance to explain yourself, in an unbiased environment, it's pointless to pretend the system is fair.

    3. Re:Oath by couchslug · · Score: 2

      There are ways to go about dealing with such problems without leaking secrets. No matter how much passion is involved, there is no legal military right to do what Manning did.

      There was also no necessity. There are many ways an experienced G.I. could have tackled the problem.

      Manning could, for example, have contacted appropriate Congresscritters with a description of what he'd found and how an investigation could review the content. Doing multiple Congressional contacts would mean each would know the other knew.

      Since the negative impact has been minimal, I'm not convinced what he "leaked" wasn't manipulated and salted with "useful content". He'd be the perfect chump.

      Young (not much life experience), has emotional problems, unsophisticated, bit of an attention whore, with a natural fanbase that won't notice or acknowledge those issues.

      Facilitating his inclinations without entrapment would be a perfect sting. Not all intelligence folks are hacks like Gordon Liddy. Feeding a spy what you want them to see is classic.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    4. Re:Oath by tonywong · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Contacting Congress and the Senate didn't do much for the Tillman family. The Senate inquiry basically pandered to the military and ol' Rummie to the point of it being a cocktail party. I always thought the Tillman family got a raw deal, but then I watched the "The Tillman Story," which showed (from the family's POV) how badly they got railroaded.

      All of the cover-up went straight to the top and everyone covered for each other. That was for the death of one (famous) soldier. I don't know what else is in the leaked Manning documents but just the Iraqi reporters being attacked by helicopter gunships was enough to disgust me.

      I don't necessarily agree with what Manning did but I don't disagree either. About the only thing I *DO* know is that he is utterly screwed.

    5. Re:Oath by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 2

      Fun fact, willfully disobeying a lawful order of superior commissioned officer during time of war is punishable by death

      It's a good thing for him that we haven't been at war since World War II

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    6. Re:Oath by cavreader · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Please define these illegal orders. It seems the definition of legal and illegal are defined by a persons political leanings. And if you want to use narrow and self defined reasons that support your particular understanding and political viewpoint you are guilty of manipulating the legal system just to satisfy your political and personal viewpoints. You certainly are not defending any legal process.

    7. Re:Oath by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 2

      I was in downtown Boston on the 4th of July weekend, and happened upon a unique memorial: it was six four-sided pillars, each about 50 feet high, of clear glass. Pretty, actually. Then I looked closer to see what was etched into the glass. It was a collection of numbers, almost like serial numbers, or concentration camp IDs. My wife nearly collapsed at the realization. All those people, dead, because soldiers were "following orders."

      A -human's- first order of responsibility is to do what's right.

      Did that include the dog tags of those who died following orders on D-Day?

  10. Re:So? by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Have you _read_ Wired? The amount of spin on every page is stunning. It's quite embarrassing when someone leaves a copy in a workplace lobby due to an individual article mentioning their company. It's usually a good indicator that the company is a pure "dotcom" effort and lacks a working product. And their ads are often a guide to what _not_ to buy, due to companies wasting money on glitzy advertising rather than making their tools work.

  11. Re:What A Disgusting Comment by crow_t_robot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I guess you are blissfully unaware of the conditions that Bradley Manning has been kept in. Years of torture like that is much more gruesome than a swift, violent death.

    Also, Manning did not betray this country. He betrayed the Bush and Obama administrations.

  12. Re:Ha ha by dkleinsc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Absolutely. The President also swears loyalty to the Constitution. The oaths are supposed to emphasize that the US is a country ruled by laws rather than men.

    However, there's lots of evidence that this is no longer the case. For instance, Bradley Manning's confinement is violating the spirit if not the letter of at least 3 of the 10 amendments that make up the Bill of Rights:
    Fifth Amendment - depriving him of liberty without due process, quite possibly attempting to compel him to incriminate himself
    Sixth Amendment - depriving him of a speedy and public trial by jury, failing to inform him of the charges against him, failing to allow him to confront the witnesses and evidence against him, and limiting his access to counsel (including numerous attempts to spy on his lawyer)
    Eighth Amendment - cruel and unusual punishment (specifically, borderline torture according to most international organizations that study that sort of thing)

    But it doesn't matter, because those responsible for prosecuting crimes have decided to look the other way on government misdeeds, and the courts have blocked nearly all lawsuits pertaining to government misdeeds on the grounds that they might compromise national security.

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  13. Re:So? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am familiar with Wired as a glossy rag dedicated to fellating .coms and spilling endless ink about 'lifestyle' and how the print media is dead.

    My expectations for anything resembling serious journalism are nil, roughly on par with my journalist expectations from HallMark cards. However, my past experience with them was always that they were insufferably fluffy and vacuous; in a useless; but more or less benign way. Their treatment of the Lamo/Manning transcripts, though, appears to be oozing pure evil and utter dishonesty from every pore.

  14. Re:What A Disgusting Comment by fredrated · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Get off your high horse and pull your head out of your arse, Manning did this country a service on the order of the Pentagon Papers release. Some people actually want to know what our country is doing to others as opposed to burying our heads in the sand.

  15. Re:Ha ha by mosinu · · Score: 2

    You do realize that when you join the military you surrender those rights and are held under the UCMJ unless the military decides otherwise. That is why he is in a military jail and will be tried under military law and rules.

  16. Re:Ha ha by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 2

    Well, obviously Manning should have had a HOSTS file installed, as that would have prevented any security breach whatsoever!!

    hehehelol

    --
    "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
  17. Re:Protections? by kmcarr · · Score: 2

    In the USA, yes there are (can't speak for other countries). It is afforded the same status as lawyer-client or doctor-patient. A spiritual advisor (priest, minister, rabbi, shaman, spaghetti wizard) may not be compelled to reveal what someone told him PROVIDED the communication is in the context of providing spiritual advice or counseling; this context is generally construed very broadly.

  18. Is Lamo entirely sane? by pinkeen · · Score: 2

    From what I've read I gather that Lamo has got some serious psychological issues. That business with Manning only confirms that the guy doesn't know who he is.

    1. Re:Is Lamo entirely sane? by pinkeen · · Score: 2

      Great read about lamo. There was a lot more, but I can't seem to find it.

  19. Re:Swore to obey? by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The trouble is that the way the military works, if you choose to disobey an order on moral grounds, you have a steep hill to climb to prove that you were justified in doing so. And by the time you climb it, you've been punished heavily for disobedience.

    I don't really know what the solution is there - if the hill wasn't steep then you'd get dipshits disobeying orders because they don't feel like it.

    --
    "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
  20. Re:How is this different? Why the outrage here? by Enry · · Score: 2

    1) Journalists have a reputation of not revealing sources if they say that won't (including going to jail). Lamo's actions reflect poorly on the entire profession as a whole (not that it has much anyway..)
    2) If Lamo is guilty of doing the same things that Manning is, then why isn't Lamo in lockup instead of being considered a credible source?
    3) Manning just released information. Lamo released only part of it and lied (and had others lie) about other parts.

  21. what's not to get? by DynamoJoe · · Score: 4, Insightful
    short version:

    Manning did what he did for idealistic reasons. Also, he did not lie to anyone (that I know of). He hoped his actions would lead to positive global change.
    Adrian Lamo did what he did for the greater good of Adrian Lamo. He lied Manning to get more info and ultimately betrayed him.
    Wired participated and perpetuated these lies and gained publicity as a result of them.

    --
    bah.
  22. Re:Swore to obey? by fishbowl · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not everybody gets the same training, but I know an Army officer (an O-1) who was routinely drilled on this. Every now and then he'd get a plainly illegal order for something minor, which was a test -- not calling his superior on the test would have been a Bad Thing -- something you had to be on your toes to spot. That was at West Point, so of course not an experience that everybody in the Army has, but when I heard that and other stories it changed my opinion of military training and discipline. Point is, for all this stuff that civilians talk about (what if enemy elements infiltrated the US government? What if there were rogue elements within the chain of command?) at least some military officers are explicitly considering these possibilities as potential reality, and training for it.

    Anyway it made me comfortable that at least one 1st Lt. in the US Army had been trained to instinctively consider that an order might not be legal.

    On the other hand, that same training makes it really hard to presume that someone in Manning's position didn't know how severe the consequences would be for what he did. I'm not making a value judgment as to whether his actions were ethical or not, because I just plain don't care about that.

    --
    -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
  23. Re:What A Disgusting Comment by fishbowl · · Score: 2

    The only thing that really changed is that we know that military data security can be horrible, and that the spirit of "Loose Lips Sink Ships" died at some point.

    --
    -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
  24. Re:Ha ha by GrantRobertson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    No, you do not surrender those rights. Just about the only right you agree to give up is a very narrow portion of the freedom of speech. You are allowed to say and express anything you want so long as you do not do so while wearing your uniform, thus implying that you are speaking as a member of the military.

    Again, they officially teach you this in boot camp but then immediately try to convince you that it is not true. Most of what people believe about soldiers' rights and responsibilities is due to a massive campaign of indoctrination, mis- and dis-information targeted at the soldiers and the public.

  25. Re:Ha ha by dkleinsc · · Score: 4, Informative

    The military is not a Constitution-free zone: The UCMJ actually makes it quite clear that they're implementing the same rules, just within a military structure.

    For instance, since he's military, his trial may be in front of a court-martial, rather than in front of a civilian judge. Similarly, his right to counsel may be fulfilled by JAG rather than a civilian attorney. There are limits within military law on what a commander can do to punish somebody under their command (e.g. your CO can't just shoot you without repercussions).

    You can read the UCMJ for yourself if you don't believe me:
    http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj.htm

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  26. Re:i thought that only cops... by nedlohs · · Score: 2

    Everybody is allowed to lie to you with impunity.

    Well unless you are a cop.

  27. Re:Should have continued to withhold. by inviolet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And [Manning was] a traitor. Don't forget that part.

    I'll go 10 to 1 that you would've been on the side of the British, cheering whenever one of the traitor colonists was caught and trussed up.

    Is there space in that head thing of yours for the idea that Our Country may require a course correction? And that those who cause such a correction are not automatically wrong?

    --
    FATMOUSE + YOU = FATMOUSE
  28. Wired Lies by jdev · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The worst part is they have allowed lies to go unchallenged for all this time. And they have lied to cover their own ass in the process. Take a look at this tweet. This is Evan Hansen, the editor in chief at Wired magazine, stating clearly that they have released all relevant portions of the chat logs concerning Manning and Wikileaks.

    Now check out this portion of the chat logs.

    MANNING: he (Julian Assange) knows very little about me
    MANNING: he takes source protection uber-seriously
    MANNING: "lie to me" he says
    LAMO: Really. Interesting.
    MANNING: he wont work with you if you reveal too much about yourself

    This explicitly states that Manning and Assange have almost no relationship. Assange doesn't want to know the guy. Yet lies have persisted for this past year saying that Assange coaxed the documents out of Manning. The feds were trying to build a case against Manning based on that assumption. But the chat logs clearly state the opposite is true.

    Wired has lied for a year on the subject and has no credibility. How Evan Hansen is still employed there is beyond my understanding.

  29. On the contrary... by jdev · · Score: 4, Informative

    ... they contain a significant amount of important information.

    1) Lamo stated the he was a journalist and a priest, so the chat logs would be secret.

    2) They further show Manning's intent for releasing the documents.

    3) Julian Assange had very limited communications with Manning in an effort to protect his sources.

    4) Manning wasn't simply a low level employee as the government has tried to portray. He had direct communications with high level officials.

    5) Wired misled the public by concealing this information for a year and allowed Lamo and others to spread lies about Manning.

    But yeah, besides all that, there is nothing new or revealing.

  30. This defense is deplorable by PuckSR · · Score: 2

    This whole "Manning was a hero" thing is really weird.
    The guy committed a crime. The crime is pretty clear. He also committed the crime with a pretty blatant disregard for anyone else.

    You want an analog? Someone robbed at bank with a weapon to pay for surgery for his son.
    Was he justified? Maybe...
    Was anyone hurt? Luckily no one was injured
    Did he still commit a crime for which he is expected to be punished to the fullest extent of the law? Yes

    The fact that no one was injured doesn't prove that it was safe. Drunk drivers get in car crashes all the time and no one is seriously injured or killed. Does that mean that the drunk driver was justified to try driving home? Moral justification also does exempt one from legal ramifications. Christian extremists who bombed abortion clinics felt morally justified and obligated to act in the way that they did. Are you suggesting that if abortion is later outlawed(confirming their justification) that we should also pardon those who bombed abortion clinics?

    Finally, journalists do not have any "right" to protect their sources. The journalist-source relationship is probably the least defendable confidentiality relationship. There is not any intrinsic guarantee, and if a journalist is protecting someone guilty of a major crime they can actually be considered an accomplice if they do not divulge their source. Journalists try to protect their sources, but there is no guarantee. Also, how does someone who is not a minister even begin to claim a penitant-priest relationship?

  31. O RLY by sean.peters · · Score: 4, Insightful

    endangered people, programs, and processes that involve untold thousands of man-hours to mop up

    [citation needed]. Even the Pentagon admits that there's no evidence anyone was endangered by this leak. So how about naming some of the "people, programs, and processes" that were endangered? I mean, besides the ones that involve the US gov't lying to the American people and then covering it up. I'm sure THOSE programs really were endangered.

  32. Forgetting something? by l00sr · · Score: 2

    And this terrible crime is truly worth having our clearanced military personelle deciding that its time to violate his oaths and divulge whatever information he saw fit-- even that which shows no "horrible crimes"-- to the entire world.

    Remember the video of the death of the Reuters journalist, which the US repeatedly withheld against the wishes of said news agency? Care to guess how it eventually came to light?

  33. Re:You just described by cavreader · · Score: 2

    Your "Bush Administration" bullshit is the epitome of tiresome rhetoric. I asked about you personally. And for the record why don't you do something worthwhile an research how every administration since George Washington has both used and manipulated the legal system to support and justify their actions. The easiest example would be FDR. Investigate his masterful work in using the constitution and supporting laws to push his inflict his will on running the country. Also pay attention to the insults and accusations thrown at him and then take a look at the results of his actions. And please try to stay away from iloveprogressive.com and anarchy_forever.com when doing your research.