I don’t think they are going to kill Manning, so win?

We found out today that Bradley Manning was convicted of 20 or the 21 charges against him. He was acquitted of aiding the enemy, which carries the death penalty. This is not a victory. He has  kept in solitary confinement already, which is deemed torture by the international community. He will most likely be kept there, for his safety of course.

Some of the counts he was convicted of are leaking intelligence knowing it would be accessible to the enemy, releasing classified information, and disobeying orders. The judge, Col. Denise Lind, ruled Manning had no intent to release the documents to the enemy, but he was negligent in releasing the documents. The charges he was convicted of can carried up to 154 years in prison; he has yet to be sentenced.

Manning released the documents in 2010 after he became disillusioned by an American foreign policy that wanted to kill and capture people. Manning’s lawyer, David Coombs, said in his closing argument that Manning was “trying to ply his knowledge to hopefully save lives.”

Prosecutors claimed Manning wanted notoriety and put his fellow soldiers at risk. This is not true.

Manning had already pled guilty to 10 charges which carry up to 20 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. He has been jailed since about June or July of 2010.

Amnesty released a statement on how skewed the government’s priorities are, “Amnesty believes it undermines accountability when the US government is so selective about who it chooses to investigate and prosecute. This is particularly true when they seem intent on punishing those who reveal unlawful government behavior and protecting those who actually engage in or ordered such behavior.” It is a good read. At this point we just wait to hear how many years Manning gets, and remember exactly why Edward Snowden needs asylum.