Ten Revelations From Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks Documents

[G_j]

Last edited Wed Jun 5, 2013, 09:41 AM - Edit history (1)

http://mobile.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/06/04/bradley_manning_trial_10_revelations_from_wikileaks_documents_on_iraq_afghanistan.html?original_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dmanning%2Bdeath%2Bpenalty%26source%3Dlnms%26tbm%3Dnws%26sa%3DX%26ei%3DE0KuUb3QOon68gTm64GwBg%26ved%3D0CAoQ_AUoAw%26biw%3D320%26bih%3D504

Ten Revelations From Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks Documents
By Ryan Gallagher

<>

-During the Iraq War, U.S. authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape, and murder by Iraqi police and soldiers, according to thousands of field reports.

-There were 109,032 “violent deaths” recorded in Iraq between 2004 and 2009, including 66,081 civilians. Leaked records from the Afghan War separately revealed coalition troops’ alleged role in killing at least 195 civilians in unreported incidents, one reportedly involving U.S. service members machine-gunning a bus, wounding or killing 15 passengers.

-The U.S. Embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any European Union country that opposed genetically modified crops, with U.S. diplomats effectively working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto.

-British and American officials colluded in a plan to mislead the British Parliament over a proposed ban on cluster bombs.

-In Baghdad in 2007, a U.S. Army helicopter gunned down a group of civilians, including two Reuters news staff.

..more...

[ZombieHorde]

1. Interesting. nt

[xchrom]

2. Du rec. Nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. But..but..think of the EMBARRASSMENT he caused!!

What if people actually found out what their public servants do??!!

"Man is the only animal that blushes...or needs to." Mark Twain

[rhett o rick]

10. He dared to challenge the authoritarian rule that some worship.

The bullies among us love to pick on the little guy. They would never challenge their authoritarian (bully) leaders.

[G_j]

11. lol

already complaining...

[99th_Monkey]

4. It's awesome to have this condensed version

so clearly written. It makes it crystal clear who the real "criminals" are,
and their names aren't Bradley Manning or Julian Assange.

[randome]

5. The only thing I see troublesome on that list (in a legal sense)...

is this:

A leaked diplomatic cable provided evidence that during an incident in 2006, U.S. troops in Iraq executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians, including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month-old, then called in an airstrike to destroy the evidence. The disclosure of this cable was later a significant factor in the Iraqi government’s refusal to grant U.S. troops immunity from prosecution beyond 2011, which led to U.S. troops withdrawing from the country.

I don't recall if this issue ever received attention or was discounted.

Everything else on the list is not illegal, including the Apache helicopter attack, of which even Assange said the men who were fired upon appeared to be carrying RPGs.

So the question becomes, then, was the hundreds of thousands of documents that were given to a foreign national and his private company worth all this? Did Manning even know about the incident above or was that a 'pleasant accident'?

And what about the informants' names that were released? And the email addresses and other personal info about service members?

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[msanthrope]

6. Please edit--you posted an entire article, as opposed to 4 paragraphs. nt

[SamKnause]

8. New member

Question;

How does one know if they are allowed to post an entire article as opposed to 4 paragraphs, or is 4 paragraphs a DU site rule ?

Thanks in advance.

[tammywammy]

26. It's the copyright link located at the bottom of each page

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=copyright

[G_j]

9. Oh, to see all those crimes out on the open!

your concern is noted, what is now posted are the points from the document dump.

[msanthrope]

31. Actually, without the hotlinks, it loses the punch that the author took pains

to convey--that's the problem with a sloppy cut and paste.

[SamKnause]

7. Bradley

............................BRAVE and HEROIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Free Bradley Manning
Stop the attacks on Wikileaks
Stop persecuting Julian Assange

Start doing you jobs.
Stop being crooks, liars and thieves.
Stop terrorizing the world.

U.S. politicians are a corrupt disgrace.
They should be exiled from this country.
They are destroying it from the inside.
They are the greatest threat this country faces.
The honest politicians wouldn't fill a broom closet.

[DevonRex]

12. Nonsensical term: military-style trade war. The actual term is MEASURED. From 2007.

Specifically "not vicious."

http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2011/jan/03/wikileaks-us-eu-gm-crops

"In response to moves by France to ban a Monsanto GM corn variety in late 2007, the ambassador, Craig Stapleton, a friend and business partner of former US president George Bush, asked Washington to penalise the EU and particularly countries which did not support the use of GM crops.

"Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits.
"The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices," said Stapleton, who with Bush co-owned the Dallas/Fort Worth-based Texas Rangers baseball team in the 1990s."

[maddiemom]

13. If (more likely ) when Bradley Manning gets hammered , it will be the final nail

in the coffin began when nine unelected judges anointed a president who was not elected by popular vote, and proceeded to run the nation over a cliff. No former president has ever shown less interest in the world than Dubya, and more relief to be off the hook as a "world leader."

[Th1onein]

14. These are all disturbing, but this one is particularly disturbing....

"-The U.S. Embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any European Union country that opposed genetically modified crops, with U.S. diplomats effectively working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto."

We are OWNED by corporations now. OWNED. This is no longer our country. Next: Slavery.

[DevonRex]

15. That was under Bush. 2007. There is no now. nt

[appal_jack]

43. No. Obama is totally in Monsanto's pocket too.

If you have another explanation for Obama's appointment of Michael Taylor at FDA & dozens of other pro-Monsanto, pro-GMO actions over the past five years, I'd like to hear it.

-app

[DevonRex]

49. The cable is from 2007. Some think the cables

were current at the time Manning released them. In fact, he dug around and released tons of old stuff from before he was even in the military. People also believe he released material about horrific things he "saw" or "knew about" from what he actually worked on. This is also false, as the dates of the cables prove - at least to anyone who has ever worked in the field.

[blackspade]

16. Manning is a hero.

And will be remembered as such in the future.
For now though, he will be vilified by the authoritarians among us.
Hopefully more will come out at his trial.

The list in the OP is just the tip of the iceberg.

[G_j]

17. less than 1 percent of the almost 77 million documents reportedly classified

"Although Manning’s disclosures totaled some 720,000 records—the largest security breach in U.S. history—the leak still amounted to less than 1 percent of the almost 77 million documents reportedly classified by U.S. government agencies in 2010."

(from the OP link)

[blackspade]

19. and most of those likely have no business being classified at all!

[DevonRex]

20. You're seriously saying he ONLY released 700,000 documents. OMFG. nt

[G_j]

25. no

that's a direct quote from the OP, pointing out
that there were tens of millions still classified that year.

[KansDem]

18. B...bu...but this is "classified information" a...an...and we're not supposed to know this!

Because it's "classified information" and we're not suppose to know this...!!!

[Stuart G]

21. K and R nt

[quinnox]

22. doesn't paint a pretty picture

The US Government did some repulsive things in these wars, good for Manning to expose these heinous acts to the citizens.

[randome]

27. But he didn't expose it to the citizens. He gave it to a private company run by an Australian.

He was in military intelligence. You do NOT hand over classified information to a foreign national.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[MattSh]

35. A private company?

Never heard Wikileaks called a "private company" before.

[Recursion]

46. What on earth is it besides that? (nt)

[Maedhros]

28. That's an easy way to tell a civil libertarian from an authoritarian

The civil libertarian is horrified by the misconduct revealed by the leaks and demands accountability from the government. In this context, the violation of the law by the individual is less important because the leaks provide leverage to enact positive change, hopefully lessening the degree of governmental misconduct going forward.

The authoritarian is outraged by the individual's violation of the law and demands he be punished. In this context, the wrongdoing detailed in the leaks is irrelevant and to pay any attention at all to said wrongdoing only serves to lessen the case against the individual. Governmental misconduct is just breaking eggs to make omelets.

[G_j]

23. so a burning question arises...

would we all be better off not knowing
any of this?

[chervilant]

24. IIRC, Manning decided to leak these docs

because of the incident wherein a US Army helicopter gunned down a group of civilians, including two Reuters news staff. This was the 'war crime' that motivated his disclosure.

Does anyone else remember this?

[randome]

30. Even Assange said it looked like those guys were carrying RPGs.

Don't see it as a war crime for soldiers to fire on people carrying weapons. That's separate from whether or not we should have been in Iraq in the first place. We should not have been. But Manning did not show a war crime with that video.

In his statement, he described how the attackers acted like their targets were animals. He seemed to be more disgusted by soldiers killing people than he was by any objection to the war itself.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[Bucky]

29. Man, if I'd shot up a bus full of civilians and someone leaked it, I'd just die of embarrassment.

[whatchamacallit]

32. How can the person who exposed this be bad?

How can the people who want to hide it be good?

[G_j]

33. War is Peace?

that's a tough question..

everything is upside down

[annm4peace]

34. great list of info

thanks for the talking points. I need this in talking to others.

[Recursion]

36. Sigh

During the Iraq War, U.S. authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape, and murder by Iraqi police and soldiers, according to thousands of field reports.

And succeeded in investigation thousands of reports of abuse, torture, rape, and murder by Iraqi police and soldiers.

There were 109,032 “violent deaths” recorded in Iraq between 2004 and 2009, including 66,081 civilians. Leaked records from the Afghan War separately revealed coalition troops’ alleged role in killing at least 195 civilians in unreported incidents, one reportedly involving U.S. service members machine-gunning a bus, wounding or killing 15 passengers.

Whereas the preceding sanctions regime killed millions.

The U.S. Embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any European Union country that opposed genetically modified crops, with U.S. diplomats effectively working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto.

That's essentially every canola and soy farmer in the country, but yes, agriculture debates between US and EU got ugly.

In Baghdad in 2007, a U.S. Army helicopter gunned down a group of civilians, including two Reuters news staff.

Still a lie, no matter how many times that is repeated. The men were armed. You can see their rifles in the video. Assange's added narration even mentions that.

U.S. special operations forces were conducting offensive operations inside Pakistan despite sustained public denials and statements to the contrary by U.S. officials.

True. We also knew that before Manning. Those operations are why Bin Ladin is now dead.

-A leaked diplomatic cable provided evidence that during an incident in 2006, U.S. troops in Iraq executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians, including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month-old, then called in an airstrike to destroy the evidence. The disclosure of this cable was later a significant factor in the Iraqi government’s refusal to grant U.S. troops immunity from prosecution beyond 2011, which led to U.S. troops withdrawing from the country.

Wurtrecht was convicted for that, and two others were separated from the service. We also knew about it without Manning.

[grant6712]

44. not correct re: Wuterich

"Wurtrecht was convicted for that, and two others were separated from the service. We also knew about it without Manning."

Wrong.

The incident Manning revealed was in the central Iraqi town of Ishaqi: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/31/122789/wikileaks-iraqi-children-in-us.html

The incident Wuterich confessed to was in Haditha - a totally separate massacre involving U.S. troops: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/us/an-iraqi-massacre-a-light-sentence-and-a-question-of-military-justice.html?_r=0

Also, Wuterich was hardly punished. He received no jail time despite admitting leading a massacre of several civilians.

[hrmjustin]

48. Welcome to DU my friend!

[idwiyo]

37. K&R He also helped to expose Pentagon's involvement in torture prisons,

and training of Iraq's death squads.

Revealed: Pentagon's link to Iraqi torture centres
Exclusive: General David Petraeus and 'dirty wars' veteran behind commando units implicated in detainee abuse

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/06/pentagon-iraqi-torture-centres-link

The Guardian/BBC Arabic investigation was sparked by the release of classified US military logs on WikiLeaks that detailed hundreds of incidents where US soldiers came across tortured detainees in a network of detention centres run by the police commandos across Iraq. Private Bradley Manning, 25, is facing a prison sentence of up to 20 years after he pleaded guilty to leaking the documents.

[burnodo]

38. no wonder Obama didn't try to prosecute Bush

half of Washington would be in jail

[Mnemosyne]

42. They protect themselves above everyone else. nt

[midnight]

39. Thank you....

[AnalystInParadise]

40. Ok Manning defenders which story are you sticking with?

That Bradley Manning did no damage because he released nothing of value

OR

OH NOES WAR CRIMEZ EVERYWHEREZ.....MANNING EXPOSES ALL OF THEM.....

Because I think I, and most people would at least ask you all to please be consistent. Your defend Manning at all cost rationale has you spinning all over the place.

As for this, I am going with my same consistent point that I have repeated over and over again. Bradley Manning exposed no war crimes. These are all reports. Reports are not analyzed and correlated intelligence. They may be true, they may all be false. That's the key. that all the non Military Intelligence types don't understand. Raw Intelligence is so dangerous to leak because it isn't fused, analyzed and correlated. It is not ready for dissemination because it hasn't been scrubbed to prevent spillage, it hasn't been verified for accuracy, and it is dangerous because its unfinished state could lead to misunderstandings if it was leaked before correlation. Now please return to calling anyone who isn't in your "defend precious Bradley" circle all kinds of names and continue to not even attempt to rebut anyone who disagrees with you.

[Solly Mack]

41. K&R

[lovuian]

45. connecting Monsanto and the Military

will be one of his biggest tribute
and he will be proven over time as telling the Truth of the US government's involvement of the Monsanto agenda

[WillyT]

47. K & R !!!