Chelsea Manning spends sixth Christmas in prison with no end in sight

[n2doc]

Ed Pilkington in New York

Chelsea Manning, whose role as the source of one of the largest leaks of US government state secrets in history earned her a 35-year prison sentence, will be spending her sixth Christmas in military custody with no end in sight for her ordeal.

In an article in the Guardian, the army private writes movingly about the feeling of detachment that engulfs her at this time of year. As her detention lengthens from her original arrest in Iraq in May 2010, she says that she is prone to existential doubts in what she describes as her “artificially-imposed stasis”.

“The chasm between me and the outside world feels like it’s getting wider and wider, and all I can do is let it happen. … I sometimes feel less than empty; I feel non-existent.”

It is unclear how many more Christmases Manning can expect to spend behind bars for having transferred about 750,000 files of US state secrets to the open information website WikiLeaks. She was sentenced to 35 years in August 2013 having been found guilty on 20 counts, including six under the controversial Espionage Act of 1917.

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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/24/chelsea-manning-christmas-prison-whistleblower-wikileaks

[yeoman6987]

1. I think she won't serve 35 Christmas' but 25 at least I would think

[chervilant]

2. Land of the free?

Maybe, thanks to Chelsea, I can still believe in "home of the brave." She is certainly brave!

[Rex]

3. Got to punish her while Bush-Cheney go free.

The system is all about fairness.

[GGJohn]

4. Boo Hoo.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over this, she released, illegally, scores of documents without even knowing what they were, she didn't care of the danger she might have put her fellow soldiers in, this deeply offends me and I could give 2 shits what others think of my post.
She can spend the rest of her days in prison for all I care.

[cwydro]

6. Yeah, I gotta agree on this one.

You break the law like that, oh well, you take your chances.

I've got no sympathy either.

[GGJohn]

7. Thank you.

I know there are those here who are going to give me hell for my attitude, but I just don't care, Miss Manning broke the law, and now she's paying the price.

[Drahthaardogs]

15. Indeed!

Literally took the position with the intent to release classified intell. Drew a salary almost twice of what an equivalent civil servant would use, and endangered the troops.

Ms. Manning is lucky she was not executed for treason. She should be happy she woke up to see another Christmas.

[FLPanhandle]

5. Am I supposed to feel bad?

Do the crime, do the time.

There is no question of guilt here.

[zipplewrath]

8. You can feel "bad"

One can feel bad, and yet understand that this is the way things need to be.

[tabasco]

9. Her actions could have or did put lives at risk.

I believe a 10 to 15 year sentence is warranted.

[Throd]

10. Manning should be in prison.

[DashOneBravo]

11. I'm still trying to find where

She tried to go up the chain of command with her issue.

Did she try to go outside that? The IG, another fair senior NCO, the chaplain or write her Congress person?

Or did she just dump it?

[GGJohn]

12. She just dumped it without knowing what was being dumped,

nor did she care of the potential harm to her fellow soldiers.
AFAIC, she can rot in prison.

[DashOneBravo]

13. That's what I figured.

Well now they can use her as a training aid.

Use the tools available.

[Snobblevitch]

14. Manning is not a political prisoner.

[Octafish]

16. Meanwhile, the TRAITORS who LIED AMERICAN INTO WAR REMAIN FREE.

And those who point it out, as the October Surprise veteran Laurence Silberman wrote, are NAZIs.

Funny how that is.