The Bradly Manning case is a complex one that deals with the leaking of classified documents that endangered US soldiers lives and hurt diplomatic foreign policy. He leaked 2 videos that showed the US military behaving in ways that it should not. If it was just these two leaks and the article about the US considering Wikileaks a security threat, I think that Bradley Manning would be justified in his leaking of the intelligence, especially if it is a spur of the movement move. However, he deliberately collected and leaked over 250,000 documents that contained sensitive information that could have helped Iraqi insurgents and hurt the country he had promised to defend and work for. I think because of how he deliberately put together the data and leaked it means he should be punished and I agree with what the government did in punishing him.
When leaking information, I think it is important to think about what is being leaked and why. The videos were mistakes by the US military and I don’t think the best thing to leak. It is okay for the media to see it, but it is not something that they need to see. If the US military was doing something like systematically targeting civilians or something else that is against what our country stands for, I think it would be justifiable and good for it to be leaked. However, I don’t think the videos show something that is malignant but rather a mistake. I don’t think these mistakes need to be leaked and it was wrong for him to do so. However, I think it could be seen as a grey area and as such, does not always justify a punishment.
The leaking of the sensitive documents is what I don’t agree with. In the articles it talks about how Manning was angry of his treatment as a gay soldier and was upset with the army. He got emotional about everything and lashed out against the country he was sworn to protect by leaking information. This is unacceptable, especially since the info could have hurt his country. Because of this and how he let his emotions hurt his country is why I agree with his punishment and think that the US government was justified in sending him to prison.
I think that each leaking case needs to be handled individually as there are different circumstances that deal with each one. I think that the Bradley Manning case was handled appropriately and in most cases I think that whistle blowers in the military should be treated harshly.
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