After a military court on Tuesday acquitted former U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning of aiding the enemy when he released classified documents to the website Wikileaks, Yahoo News asked military service members and veterans for their reactions. Below are excerpts from some we received.
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Hero or traitor a complex question: The heart of the matter in the Bradley Manning case, to many, seems to be this question: At what point do the people of the United States, be they low-ranking enlisted men like Manning, or private citizens ? like Edward Snowden, the recent whistleblower and U.S. government-labeled traitor ? have the right to stand up and speak out about government abuses that are affecting not just America and Americans, but the people of the world?
Did Pfc. Manning put troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan at greater risk by leaking the information that he gathered over a period of time in 2009 and 2010? As a veteran of the Iraq War myself, I would say yes. Did he send a message to an overreaching behemoth U.S. government that it will be held to account for misleading the American people and trying to cover up wrong-doings? As a U.S. citizen, I would say yes.
Manning still faces more than 130 years in prison for his convictions of 19 of 20 lesser charges. But one message has been sent loud and clear: A U.S. government that seems to feel it can start wars based upon rumors and half-truths, and by misleading the American people, should be reminded of the adage that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
Manning may spend some time in a prison cell, but on his way down the corridor, he has revealed a little more of the man behind the curtain to a not-so-ignorant public.
? Kevin E. Lake served as a machine gunner for a convoy security team in Mosul, Iraq, as a member of the Washington Army National Guard.
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Stiff sentence would dissuade others : Manning willingly broke his word and the law. I know this because I've signed that same paperwork countless times over the years.
With this in mind, I cannot sympathize with him. Manning was put in a position of trust and responsibility, and he lacked the correct attributes for the job. He broke his word and hurt America in an incalculable way.
Is Manning a traitor or whistleblower? Downloading more than 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks isn't the action of a man who discovered a couple of ugly secrets and wanted to expose them. He downloaded a massive amount of classified on a wide range of subjects. This suggests he grabbed anything that had an interesting title. He may have started out wanting to expose an ugly secret, but he got foolishly wild and sloppy. He also showed a horrible lack of judgment. I have to think he is a petty young man who naively committed terribly traitorous acts. A whistleblower brings wrong-doings to the proper authorities; he doesn't pass them along to the open market.
Between Pfc. Bradley Manning's weak principles, his co-workers' lack of interest, and his supervisor's complacency, this was bound to happen eventually. A strong and harsh sentence will hopefully dissuade others from doing similarly foolish things.
? A 23-year military veteran, Mark Murphy's career has included satellite communications, housing hundreds of junior enlisted personnel, helping train F-22 pilots, developing and monitoring government contracts and even performing courier duties with the Air Force and U.S. State Department.
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Manning lucky I wasn't his judge: Manning had access to top-secret communications that he should have known, by releasing to others, could have landed in enemy hands. He, like I did, took an oath, which states: "I do solemnly swear 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 the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
This young man, only 25, should have known better, and, although he may serve some time in prison on the other charges, is lucky I was not his judge because instead of life in prison, I believe that violation of Article 104 deserves the stiffest penalty: death.
? Gene Bannister served in the U.S. Army from 1989 1991 in Operation Desert Storm.
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Heart in right place, but he still erred: I understand Pfc. Manning's desire to make Americans aware of faulty ethics in the country's foreign policy. I am not saying I would have reacted in the manner he did had I disagreed with information I was privy to. Was his illegal publishing of material to Wikileaks the correct way to blow that whistle? Probably not.
But action needs to be taken and not swept under the rug. Sooner or later, the government is going to have to realize it cannot get away with everything. This nation's citizens deserve the right to know how its government is conducting its business.
We will continue to see more like Manning and Snowden, as they are witness to absurdities in this government. And, when they unveil the truth, the government will have no choice but to attempt to throw them to the dogs and scream, "Spy!" Both sides should realize there are consequences to what they do.
? Michael Hedges enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002. He served in the infantry from 2002 to 2010, when he was medically re-classed to Army Finance due to combat-related injuries. He served two tours of duty in Iraq in infantry and one tour in Afghanistan in Army Finance.
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Bradley Manning verdict is a shame: One of the main lessons I took from my time in combat operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan is that the local population's opinions of how we conduct ourselves as a unit deployed to their country and as a nation back home have a direct effect on the average soldier on the ground.
What Bradley Manning did was irresponsible and done from the point of view of someone who has never had to engage the enemy, someone who has never had to walk a patrol where the average citizen can turn against you in an instant and attempt to take your life.
Manning presents himself as a "whistleblower" and as someone who stands for the free flow of information. While the free flow of information is a good thing, it has to be moderated in certain cases and when there are lives on the line is a perfect time to exercise that restraint.
? Tim Smith served five years of active duty in the U.S. Army's 82nd and 173rd Airborne units as an infantry soldier, reaching the rank of staff sergeant. He served three additional years in the reserves after leaving active duty.
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Manning knows what he did was wrong: While in the Navy, I worked in a "secure" facility where it was necessary to have a security clearance. Security clearances are not given out freely. The government does complete background checks that often include interviewing the candidate's teachers, religious leaders and even neighbors, in person.
Therefore, I cannot see any way Bradley Manning was not aware he was releasing sensitive information. He had no authority to declassify information, and he was aware of consequences of releasing the information.
? Paul Smith enlisted in the U.S. Navy before graduating from high school, attended boot camp one week after graduation and served four years, 1967-71
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