What (or Who) Fosters Treason?
U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in Wikileaks Video Probe (wired.com)
The following are my thoughts regarding the arrest of SPC Bradley Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, who boasted of giving classified U.S. combat video and hundreds of thousands of classified State Department records to whistleblower site Wikileaks. He also took credit for leaking a video of a helicopter attack that Wikileaks posted online in April. The video grabbed headlines because it showed a deadly 2007 U.S. helicopter air strike in Baghdad that killed several civilians.
Let me preface my remarks with a question. If a murderer is not caught by law enforcement and processed through our judicial system and you know who that murderer is, would you punish that person yourself, outside of our rule of law?
The answer to my hypothetical question must be “no” if we are to consider ourselves to be a civilized country.
Spc Manning found the helicopter video stored in a JAG officer’s directory and rather than let the Judge Advocate General’s office proceed with whatever they were planning, Manning decided to tell the world through the media.
On behalf of all Americans this 22 year old made an executive decision. He decided Army Intelligence was corrupt and so he disregarded the systems we have in place to protect ourselves and freedom. Rather than work constructively to improve Army Intelligence he decided to discredit it. After all, working to improve the system would take a lot of time and dedication, going to the press provided instant gratification (regardless of the consequences.)
Did this man have role models to reinforce this type of behavior? I say yes. I recall in the fall of 2006 that a secret report written by a Colonel in Marine Corps Intelligence was leaked to the press by Tom Ricks. There have been many other leaks: White House leaks, Pentagon leaks, with each being tolerated by the public and thus fostering the idea that it’s okay to leak secrets to the press.
What a destructive mindset: crippling our intelligence systems by tolerating leaks to the press! Disclosing information that undermines the role our intelligence organizations play in securing America and freedom and putting our troops at risk. Those troops are our children, parents, and siblings, yet we allow the press to endanger them each time we tolerate the leak of secret information.
Let me be blunt, Spc Manning must be tried for treason and (if found guilty) given the most severe sentence possible.
We must also examine our vetting of intelligence personnel and design a system more rigorous in excluding those capable of such betrayal. As well the American public must become less tolerant of a press corps who routinely betrays our country for monetary gain.
