Daily Agitator

WikiLeaks!  By now we all have heard of the release of “classifies” documents by alleged hacker PFC Manning Bradley……matters not what we think of the person or what he is accused of doing…..what matters is one of those darn pesky rights we have….that being “innocent” until PROVEN “Guilty”……..

Bradley is accused of releasing secret documents to an outfit known as WikiLeaks….some think him a hero and others see him as a traitor….whatever your choice is is your decision….however, regardless of what you feel….the man deserves a fair trial….and at this point I do not think he can get one….why?

First of all, he has been convicted already in the court of public opinion and the news outlets have seen to it that his “fair” trial will give only one verdict…..GUILTY!

And now our President has weighed in on the issue…..when giving a speech recently he was interrupted by protesters in support of Manning and the Prez responded……

“I have to abide by certain classified information,” Obama said on a video that quickly began to circulate among media outlets Friday. “If I was to release stuff, information that I’m not authorized to release, I’m breaking the law. … We’re a nation of laws. We don’t individually make our own decisions about how the laws operate. … He broke the law.”

I would say that Manning is pretty much screwed and that chance of a “fair”  trial is pretty much out the door…..in making that statement Pres. Obama has violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice and after all he is the Commander in Chief of the military…..but how did he violate the UMCJ?

ART. 37. UNLAWFULLY INFLUENCING ACTION OF COURT

(a) No authority convening a general, special, or summary court-martial, nor any other commanding officer, may censure, reprimand, or admonish the court or any member, military judge, or counsel thereof, with respect to the findings or sentence adjudged by the court, or with respect to any other exercises of its or his functions in the conduct of the proceedings. No person subject to this chapter may attempt to coerce or, by any unauthorized means, influence the action of a court-martial or any other military tribunal or any member thereof, in reaching the findings or sentence in any case, or the action of any convening, approving, or reviewing authority with respect to his judicial acts. The foregoing provisions of the subsection shall not apply with respect to

(1) general instructional or informational courses in military justice if such courses are designed solely for the purpose of instructing members of a command in the substantive and procedural aspects of courts-martial, or

(2) to statements and instructions given in open court by the military judge, president of a special court-martial, or counsel.

(b) In the preparation of an effectiveness, fitness, or efficiency report on any other report or document used in whole or in part for the purpose of determining whether a member of the armed forces is qualified to be advanced, in grade, or in determining the assignment or transfer of a member of the armed forces or in determining whether a member of the armed forces should be retained on active duty, no person subject to this chapter may, in preparing any such report (1) consider or evaluate the performance of duty of any such member, as counsel, represented any accused before a court-martial.

In making his statement he may have unwittingly given his defense team a chance for some action on Manning’s behalf…..sorry….but EVERYBODY deserves a fair and unbiased trial….regardless of the crime one is accused of committing……