BREAKING NEWS: Chelsea Manning Walks Free After Serving 7 Years ...

I don't see her as a whistle blower and she is too fragile to be a traitor in the same fashion as a Robert Hanson or Pelton or Pollard. However, she committed traitorous acts. Should she be forgotten? She won't be. It won't be constantly discussed but at every milestone in her life there will be a short note in the Metro or Style section that she turned 50, or she was hospitalized then the obligatory sentence that she was granted clemency after providing classified information to Wikileaks while she was enlisted in the US military.

I'm with Chelsea.

Seen whatcha did there.

Not a whistleblower. She didn't expose any wrongdoing.

What she exposed was a lot of democracy activists whose lives were then in grave danger from their dictatorships. Luckily the US was able to rescue them all in time to save their lives. But now they are no longer in a position to help influence their country towards freedom.

But she didn't do that on purpose. She was dreadfully unhappy and lashing out at the world. So not a traitor either.

I do think it is appalling that she and Jonathan Pollard did not serve the same sentence. They committed similar crimes. There was clearly a horrible injustice with at least one of their sentences.

Chelsea Manning acted the way she did because of her conscience, she exposed war crimes. Even 7 years seems unduly harsh, but 35 years was an abomination.

Nonsense. She didn't expose a single misdeed (much less a war crime).

So anyone who is dreadfully unhappy should be allowed to commit a crime? Being dreadfully unhappy does not excuse anyone.

However, I agree that the sentence was severe.

You're saying the American military should be allowed to commit war crimes and only those who expose said crimes should be prosecuted.

No such war crimes. No such exposure of war crimes.

No.



That depends. If someone acts out because they are dreadfully unhappy, that means that they are not acting from a desire to harm the US or help our enemies.

That would excuse them from being placed in the same category as those who harm the US with malevolent intent.