I hope all the armchair judges of Manning's leak have read the following:

[jpgray]

(02:26:01 PM) Manning: i dont believe in good guys versus bad guys anymore… i only a plethora of states acting in self interest… with varying ethics and moral standards of course, but self-interest nonetheless
(02:26:18 PM) Manning: s/only/only see/
(02:26:47 PM) Lamo: the tm meant i was being facetious
(02:26:59 PM) Manning: gotchya
(02:27:47 PM) Manning: i mean, we’re better in some respects… we’re much more subtle… use a lot more words and legal techniques to legitimize everything
(02:28:00 PM) Manning: its better than disappearing in the middle of the night
(02:28:19 PM) Manning: but just because something is more subtle, doesn’t make it right
(02:29:04 PM) Manning: i guess im too idealistic
(02:31:02 PM) Manning: i think the thing that got me the most… that made me rethink the world more than anything
(02:35:46 PM) Manning: was watching 15 detainees taken by the Iraqi Federal Police… for printing “anti-Iraqi literature”… the iraqi federal police wouldn’t cooperate with US forces, so i was instructed to investigate the matter, find out who the “bad guys” were, and how significant this was for the FPs… it turned out, they had printed a scholarly critique against PM Maliki… i had an interpreter read it for me… and when i found out that it was a benign political critique titled “Where did the money go?” and following the corruption trail within the PM’s cabinet… i immediately took that information and *ran* to the officer to explain what was going on… he didn’t want to hear any of it… he told me to shut up and explain how we could assist the FPs in finding *MORE* detainees…

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/wikileaks-chat/

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[terrya]

2. Happy to recommend.

Thanks.

[Catherina]

3. What the nation has done to Manning & others like him is a crime. Rec'd. n/t

[EFerrari]

4. K&R

Whether people like it or not, Brad is a political prisoner.

[Ramulux]

5. 20 years from now

Manning will be seen as a more important historical figure than Barack Obama. He is definitely a more heroic and moral person.

[pacalo]

6. In the '50's I remember hearing about the evils of communism, how Russia

kept the truth from the constituency with various propaganda & psy-ops techniques.

What is this country now? Capitalist/Communist/Fascist?

[girl gone mad]

10. It's Communist.

Corporate Communism.

Corporations own everything, including governments, and they use communist tactics to control the population, competition, and the flow of money.

[immoderate]

14. You describe fascism, and call it communism. Why?

And what's a "communist tactic" that doesn't lead to collective ownership of capital?

--imm

[CJCRANE]

15. I think the poster probably means authoritarianism or totalitarianism

which is mainly associated with communism (but as you correctly say also happens under fascism).

[girl gone mad]

17. We do have collective ownership of capital.

We have what George Orwell described as "Oligarchical Collectivism".

Our oligarchs collectively control the national treasure, often enabled by the superior rights provided through the acts of incorporation (thus the term Corporate Communism).

The recent financial crisis gave ample evidence of this socio-economic paradigm. Jst look at who was bailed out and how they were bailed out. For instance, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/business/economy/03fed.html?_r=1&ref=business">this article from the New York Times gives direct insight into which elites were allowed access to emergency Fed loans.

As for communist tactics, the Wikileaks affair is just another example. See this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9694888

[immoderate]

18. Oligarchical Collectivism? In other words, fascism.

You are falling victim to what Orwell was trying to warn us about.

Communist tactics? Remember Don Siegelman?

--imm

[leftstreet]

7. K&R

[Goldstein1984]

8. Manning is a hero. Posterity will sort that out.

[jpgray]

9. He's the interesting story, ten bajillion articles on Assange notwithstanding

[Hydra]

11. Poor Kid

His inexperience may have killed him, but I think we can all appreciate his need to do something concrete against the corruption he witnessed, and his utter *aloneness* in the information he had found.

[Celtic Raven]

12. K&R

:kick: for Pfc. Manning

[treestar]

13. What brilliant revelation does that make?

It's still against the law to leak classified documents.

[BlackHoleSon]

16. It's also against the law

to order torture.
Your point?

[Electric Monk]

19. k&r