http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/pentagon-ignores-child-porn-in-its.html
Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden are American heroes. Manning deserves a pardon, and all charges against Snowden should be dropped, forever. From NPR and the Washington Post......
U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning at Fort Meade, Md., on Tuesday.
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who was responsible for the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history, was sentenced by a military judge to 35 years in prison Wednesday, . He'll get about 3 1/2 years' credit for time he's already spent behind bars.
More details (added at 10:30 a.m. ET):
— Manning is also to be dishonorably discharged.
— The maximum sentence possible was 90 years.
— Prosecutors had asked that he be given 60 years.
— Manning's defense asked for a 25-year sentence.
— Manning's lawyer plans to speak to the news media at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Also: "Manning's sentence will automatically be sent to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals,". "Before the next phase can begin, the entire court-martial proceedings must be turned into an official transcript, which both the defense and prosecution, as well as the judge, must approve; that process is expected to take considerable time. Pretrial hearings started in 2012, and the trial itself began in early June."
Update at 2:14 p.m. ET. Will Seek Pardon:
During a press conference, Manning's civilian attorney David Coombs said they will appeal the judge's sentence and also seek a presidential pardon for Manning.
"Pfc. Manning was one of the brave Americans who was not willing to remain silent," Coombs said. "Instead he decided to provide us with information that he believed would spark reform, would spark debate and he provided us with information that he believed might change the world."
Coombs said the sentence and the initial aiding-the-enemy charge sends a "chilling message" to whistleblowers that comes "all the way from the top."
"This administration has gone after more whistleblowers than anyone," said Coombs.
Coombs said he hopes Manning will leave prison in the "near term," perhaps as soon as in three years when he is due for a hearing before the clemency board.
"This doesn't have to define him," Coombs said.
Our original post follows.
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the former intelligence analyst responsible for the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history, is to learn Wednesday just how many decades he'll be sentenced to serve behind bars.
Manning faces for the crimes he committed in 2010. Prosecutors, , have asked that he be put away for at least 60 years. "The defense," adds the AP, "has suggested a prison term of no more than 25 years, so that Manning, 25, could rebuild his life. Defense attorney David Coombs asked for a sentence that 'doesn't rob him of his youth.' "
Earlier this week, , that "I'm sorry I hurt people. ... I'm sorry that I hurt the United States. I'm apologizing for the unexpected results of my actions. The last three years have been a learning experience for me."
The judge has said she plans to begin spelling out Manning's sentence at 10 a.m. ET. We'll watch for that news and update this post.
Manning was convicted in July of most of the charges he faced, including multiple counts of espionage. But he was acquitted of the most serious: aiding the enemy. , he admitted that in early 2010 he gave WikiLeaks "more than 700,000 documents, including battlefield reports and U.S. Embassy cables.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/21/214100452/bradley-manning-to-find-out-his-fate?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=BreakingNews&utm_campaign=
Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years
The long prison term is likely to hearten national security officials who have been rattled by the subsequent leaks from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Manning’s conviction might also encourage the government to bring charges against the man who was instrumental in the publication of the documents, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.
Video
A military judge sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley
Manning to 35 years in prison for giving a trove of military and
diplomatic secrets to WikiLeaks.
Read more on this story:
WikiLeaks: A ‘strategic victory’ in Manning sentence
Manning's supporters and detractors took to Twitter to voice their opinions on his 35-year sentence.
Sentence could mean a long stay at military's most famous prison
Pfc. Bradley Manning could be headed for hard time at Fort Leavenworth.
Ellsberg: Manning another 'casualty of a horrible, wrongful war'
Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg says Bradley Manning did not deserve any prison time.
“The message won’t be lost for everyone in the military,” said Steven Bucci, director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation. “When you sign a security clearance and swear oaths, you actually have to abide by that. It is not optional.”
Civil liberties groups condemned the judge’s decision.
“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 American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. “This is a sad day for Bradley Manning, but it’s also a sad day for all Americans who depend on brave whistleblowers and a free press for a fully informed public debate.”
Manning will receive 31 / 2 years of credit for time served in pretrial confinement and for the abusive treatment he endured in a Marine brig at Quantico, making him eligible for parole in seven years. He will serve his sentence at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
On Wednesday, Manning stood at attention, with his attorneys at his side and his aunt behind him, as he listened to Judge Denise Lind read the sentence aloud. He did not appear to react to her decision.
Lind, an Army colonel, also said Manning would be dishonorably discharged, reduced in rank to private, and forfeit all pay. He had faced up to 90 years in prison.
As Manning was escorted out of the packed courtroom at Fort Meade, more than half a dozen supporters shouted out to him: “We’ll keep fighting for you, Bradley! You’re our hero!”
According to his attorney David Coombs, Manning told his distraught defense team after the sentence was issued, “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I know you did your best. I am going to be okay. I am going to get through this.”
Coombs said at a news conference that he will seek a presidential pardon for his client in the coming weeks. He read a statement from Manning in which the private reiterated his reasons for leaking classified material, saying he had “started to question the morality” of U.S. policy. Manning added that if his request for a pardon is denied, he will serve his time “knowing sometimes you pay a heavy price to live in a free country.”
“I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have a country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal,” he said.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said any application will receive routine consideration. The administration had no further comment on the sentence, and military prosecutors also did not comment on the sentence.
In a statement, WikiLeaks called Manning’s conviction “an affront to basic concepts of Western justice” and said his treatment has been intended “to send a signal to people of conscience in the U.S. government who might seek to bring wrongdoing to light.”
Coombs said recent disclosures about NSA surveillance had eclipsed the attention paid to Manning’s court-martial. Asked how he would advise Snowden on the possibility of returning to the United States for trial, Coombs said: “I would tell him the current environment is not one friendly to whistleblowers.”
“Under the current administration, leaking information to the press is tantamount to aiding the enemy. We avoided a conviction on the aiding the enemy charge, but the fact that they pursued it, let it go forward, should send alarms to all journalists,” he added.
Coombs said the prosecution had offered Manning a plea deal before trial in order to get him to testify against WikiLeaks in an ongoing investigation in the Eastern District of Virginia. Coombs said the government offer was “a length of sentence that exceeded what Manning received today,” and was rejected.
“I do not think the sentence has a legal effect on the continued investigation of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks,” said Michael Ratner, the U.S. attorney for Assange and WikiLeaks and president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights. “However, it may well embolden the government in its efforts to indict journalists such as Julian Assange. The length of the sentence demonstrates what Assange and Edward Snowden face if they are ever taken into custody by the U.S. — draconian sentences.”
The court-martial will now enter a “post-trial” and appellate phase. The government is required to compile a complete record, review all transcripts and findings, and submit its final version to a military official known as the convening authority, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan. Manning can petition Buchanan for clemency during this phase. Manning’s case will also be reviewed by the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, which will decide whether the verdict and sentence can be appealed.
Manning established a relationship online with a person who is thought to be Assange in 2010.
He transmitted the first documents to WikiLeaks in February 2010, sending what came to be known as the Iraq and Afghanistan “War Logs.” He continued to transmit more material, including a video that showed a U.S. Apache helicopter in Baghdad opening fire on a group of individuals that the crew believed to be insurgents. Among the dead were Iraqi children and two journalists.
Manning was arrested in Iraq in May 2010.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-to-sentence-bradley-manning-today/2013/08/20/85bee184-09d0-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines
International Bradley Manning Solidarity Action Days, April 24-26
The Bradley Manning Support Network has just been notified that the recommendations made last week by Lt. Col. Paul Almanza, who presided over last month’s Article 32 hearing, have been passed up the chain of command by Col. Carl R. Coffman Jr. This means that even though prosecutors presented no concrete evidence that the leaked documents caused any harm, Lt. Col. Almanza, and now Col. Coffman, have decided that all charges against Bradley Manning — including the most odious charge of “aiding the enemy” — should be referred to a full military court-martial. All of the defense witnesses that would have shown that the leaks were embarrassing, not harmful, were blocked from testifying during the pretrial hearing. At this moment, the recommendations to bring all charges against Manning to court martial now sit on the desk of Major General Michael S. Linnington, who represents an entity known as the General Court-Martial Convening Authority. He has the final power to rubber stamp these recommendations, which would formally refer these charges and initiate the court-martial process. 
WASHINGTON, DC — Military officers orchestrating proceedings against PFC Bradley Manning have referred all charges that were considered during last month’s Article 32 proceedings to a general court martial. Investigating officer Lt. Col. Paul Almanza rejected a request from lead defense counsel David Coombs to consolidate the 22 charges into three charges, expressing concerns that the military is over-charging PFC Manning.
Troops are coming home from Iraq despite the best efforts of the Obama administration to keep them there. "We're relieved to know all the troops will be home at the end of the year. This would not have been possible without the courageous actions of Wikileaks and the alleged participation of Bradley Manning" says Executive Director of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Jose Vasquez.
Four supporters of accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower PFC Bradley Manning appeared today before a judge in Manassas, Virginia, to face charges stemming from their arrests in March outside of a Marine military brig in Quantico, Virginia. These supporters were arrested along with many others who are outraged at the abusive confinement conditions to which PFC Manning was subjected during the eight months he was held at the Quantico Pre-Trial Confinement Facility. They were detained after military officials reneged on their offer to allow flowers to be placed at an Iwo Jima Memorial located at the entrance to the base.
The Bradley Manning Support Network stands in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement that has spread to hundreds of cities and town squares across America. We share a common commitment to exposing the corruption of corporate power upon our democratic system. Over the last few weeks, organizers with the Bradley Manning Support Network have been on the ground at occupations in New York, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere, along with countless other supporters for the accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower. Earlier this week, a veteran wearing a Free Bradley Manning shirt was among the first to be arrested in a police raid of the Occupy Boston encampment.
"Although we should never need to petition our government to respect basic human rights standards, we can now at least expect an answer to Mr. Mendez's request to meet with PFC Manning," said Kevin Zeese, a legal adviser with the Bradley Manning Support Network. "President Obama undermines his professed support for the work of the United Nations abroad when he prevents officials from responding to well-substantiated claims of cruel and unusual punishment at home."
Our new article answers 
Two days ago the Council of Europe issued a draft resolution today condemning a "cult of secrecy" which the human rights organization says has allowed Western security and intelligence services to routinize the concealment of violent crimes and other rights abuses. The Council's Rapporteur, Dick Marty, stressed the "fundamental role" of whistleblowers like PFC Bradley Manning in holding governments accountable for their illegal and unjust behavior. 
From the earliest days of the Bradley Manning campaign, the mainstream media has painted a false portrait of Bradley. Bradley is a young working class man who overcame great challenges in his life. If Bradley did what he is accused of, he is a hero who risked everything for justice and transparency, to help make our country live up to its best ideals. 