The Manning verdict

The Herald reports:

U.S. soldier Bradley Manning has been acquitted of aiding the enemy for sending more than 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks.

It was the most serious charge the 25-year-old faced and was punishable by life in prison without parole.

However he was found guilty of all but two of the 21 counts he was contesting, including five theft counts and five espionage counts.

That seems a good outcome. There seemed little proof that what Manning did actually “aided the enemy”.

However it is appropriate he was found guilty of the other charges, and will face consequences for it. It is not up to individual soldiers and clerks to decide which classified material gets released publicly. The actions of those who do so are in fact anti-democratic.

Barack Obama got elected President of the United States. He ultimately decides what gets released and what doesn’t, within the laws passed by Congress. No one elected Manning.