We had Congressman Mike Rogers on MSNBC Tuesday regarding his controversial comments calling for capital punishment of Pvt. Manning, who is charged with releasing classified information to Wikileaks.
Rep. Rogers was very clear and re-iterated his call for execution of Bradley Manning if he is convicted of the charges because he believes they are tantamount to treason.
But he went further when I asked him what he would have done with Daniel Ellsberg who leaked the Pentagon Papers. He said he wasn't clear on the facts of that case, but if Ellsberg had released information that put soldiers in the field at risk that he would have "absolutely" callled for his execution. I don't think even Nixon went that far.
I've actually said before that I understand why the military has to arrest and punish leakers like Pvt. Manning. As much as those leaks added clarity to the kind of wars we've conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan, I can understand why the military can't have privates making that decision on their own. However, I do think there is an option between not doing anything and executing him.
And what would happen if we held other leakers like Scooter Libby, Bob Novak and Karl Rove to Congressman Rogers' standard? Eventually, all three admitted that they released the name of a secret operative to the press when they outed Valerie Plame (they claimed they didn't know how secret her role was and eventually there was no trial on the substance because Scooter Libby obstructed the investigation -- and was convicted for doing so). Leaking her identity could have gotten her and her contacts in the field killed. Should Libby, Novak and Rove been tried for treason and executed?
Finally, it also seems pretty clear that someone close to Gen. McChrystal leaked his plan for Afghanistan before President Obama made his decision on escalation (this was before the on-the-record interviews with Rolling Stone). Should we find who that guy is and hang him, too? What if it was Gen. McChrystal himself? And how come Republicans weren't calling for executions during all of those leaks?
It turns out that things get pretty messy once you start calling for executions. Let's take a deep breath and figure out what the real solution is to a whistleblower that reveals important information that the public has a right to know but violates clear military rules to do so. That's a complicated question and one that doesn't get solved by killing anyone.
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*Republican mode on* Of course not! It's okay to leak stuff -- even to the extent of endangering lives and/or damaging National Security -- if you're a Republican! Doing so is even more imperative when you need to effect a "regime change" against a dictator who you suspect (but can't conclusively prove) to have nuculer weapons! Libby, Rove and Novak aren't the villains here! The villains are all those lily-livered pacifist Democrats and their french-fry-eating, latte-sipping peace-monger friends who didn't want our Great President to get revenge on that running-dog terrorist Saddam and his cowardly lackeys! *Republican mode off*
What exactly can our enemy (terrorists) gain from the Wiki Leaks?
Let me know, and will tell you if it matters!
Only Congress can declare war any other way is treason.
Now we know why he needed that pardon from Ford.
Certainly the enemies of this country must find such revelations comforting, the more widespread the better, but do you think that was what the founders had in mind when they put that definition in the Constitution?
And who is *really* the traitor? Is it Bradley Manning, whose publication has not been shown to have caused any American casualties but who has mightily embarrassed the military, or is it Dennis Hastert, who as Speaker of the House pushed through legislation benefiting Turkey and then went to work for the government of Turkey immediately upon leaving public office?
The cure for the ills consequent to the Wikileaks disclosure is reform of the military and, ultimately, the Congress. Barack Obama is not off the hook either, as far as I am concerned. I don't think his obedience to wall street or the banks is the change *I* can believe in.
Dick Cheney anyone?
julius and ethel rosenberg were given the death penalty many years ago. to this day there are
people who make a strong case for their innocence.
imo opinion, the keepers of the records are also guilty of malfeasance. it seems that there was more security at the chelsea clinton wedding. with the amount of technology available, whoever allowed these records to be copied should face charges.