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Chelsea Manning has been freed from the Fort Leavenworth military prison, according to a US Army spokesperson:
In January she tweeted that she wanted to move to Maryland after being released, a state where she previously lived. On Monday she tweeted: "Two more days until the freedom of civilian life ^_^ Now hunting for private #healthcare like millions of Americans =P".
Manning will remain on active army duty while her military court conviction remains under appeal. She will have healthcare benefits but will be unpaid, the army says. An online campaign set up by her attorney has raised $150,000 (£115,725) to pay for her living expenses for the first year after her release. If the appeal is denied, she could be dishonourably discharged from the army, US media say.
The mentioned Chelsea Manning Welcome Home Fund. Also at NPR, NYT, and CNN.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by looorg on Wednesday May 17 2017, @10:44PM (16 children)
Reading the "articles" is like reading fan letters to the We-Love-Manning-newsletter. No hard questions what so ever.
He is to remain on active army duty as what? I seriously doubt he can return to the former posting as an intelligence analyst. There is no way they are EVER granting Manning any kind of security clearance again, by leaking documents and having several suicide attempts he got security risk just written all over him. Regarding the suicidal tendencies that tends to also be somewhat frowned upon as there is "easy access" to guns in the army, they don't tend to go well together. The Army won't trust Manning to be in charge of the office paperclip collection, much less anything else.
"If the appeal is denied, she could be dishonorably discharged from the army, US media say."
IF?! Like there is any kind of doubt about that outcome. OK technically he could get some other kind of discharge. If not dishonorably I would assume it would be a bad conduct one. But he is leaving and it's not going to be an honorable discharge of any kind. One is only left to wonder why Manning would even want to remain in the Army or even returning to the Army. He clearly hated the Army before and I doubt the stay at Fort Leavenworth has changed any of that. This release is just the, short, interlude before the discharge.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17 2017, @11:00PM (2 children)
Reduced in rank to E-1, forfeiture of pay, sent home TDY while processing appeal.
$150K from gofundme supporters for gold lifetime Grindr membership and iPhones in perpetuity.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Thursday May 18 2017, @12:00AM (1 child)
No -- for service to human kind. And I'm proud to have been one of the early donators.
(Score: 2) by Kell on Thursday May 18 2017, @05:15AM
Good for you, blueblood! :)
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 18 2017, @12:41AM (1 child)
A dishonorable discharge from the US military is in many ways functionally equivalent to a felony criminal conviction standing alone by itself.
(Score: 3, Informative) by tibman on Thursday May 18 2017, @02:39PM
I disagree. BCD/DD doesn't stop you from voting or owning a firearm.
http://military-law.lawyers.com/veterans-benefits/discharges-and-their-effect-on-veteran-benefits.html [lawyers.com]
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 18 2017, @02:09AM (4 children)
From worst, to best, there are dishonorable, bad conduct, general under dishonorable, general under honorable conditions, convenience of the service, and finally, honorable. Each has subtle differences in the benefits available to a veteran. Whatever may be forced upon the military due to political pressure, you can be sure that Manning will not be entitled to a military funeral with honors. The Army isn't going to send an honor guard to his funeral to grieve a fallen member. Even if he requests being buried at sea, the Navy won't carry his body out, and tip it off a sheet of plywood.
Having served as an honor guard on many occasions, I can assure you that I would disobey any order to honor Manning. Many other servicemen probably feel the same way about this traitor.
(Score: 2) by KiloByte on Thursday May 18 2017, @04:10AM (3 children)
Traitor to whom? Barrack Hussein Obama?!?
He did a great service to the humankind, including his country. Manning should get highest medals, not a dishonourable discharge.
Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 18 2017, @01:40PM (2 children)
Julian Assange provides a service to humanity. Assange cannot be faulted for publishing the stuff that Manning sent him.
Manning swore several oaths, all of which he broke, as a soldier in the US Army. Manning dishonored himself.
Have you ever heard, 'Semper Fidelis'? Well, obviously, Manning hasn't either.
(Score: 2) by KiloByte on Thursday May 18 2017, @04:51PM (1 child)
Can you link to the text of the oaths? I don't know ones used by the US military, but I guess it's the usual stuff about protecting the people of USA and upholding its constitution, rather than helping cover up crimes of his higher ups.
In fact, it was his duty, that everyone else in the army failed to fulfill.
Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 19 2017, @02:23AM
Your request is easy to deal with - http://www.history.army.mil/html/faq/oaths.html [army.mil]
And, I would like to help you a little to understand that oath. "All enemies, foreign and domestic" Some of America's worst enemies are located inside of the Washington beltway. Others are scattered around the nation, sitting in offices, at the Federal Reserve, on Wall Street, and in "defense" contractor's plants.
Manning, however, cannot make any valid claim to have attacked any of those enemies. Manning didn't even have the intel necessary to hurt any of those enemies. Instead, Manning took a dump of all the intel he could get, then painted that intel as "war crimes". The most dramatic of those "war crimes", I have gone over in detail in other discussions. The video in which the Reuters correspondent is killed is no crime at all. It is a tragedy, but it is no crime.
There were crimes committed in Iraq, but Manning didn't expose Abu Ghraib - other people did that.
The greatest American crime in Iraq was the invasion itself. Responsibility for that rests squarely on GW Bush and his neoconsrevative buddies, all of whom were safe at home, reaping profit from the bloodshed.
War crimes. Had Manning actually exposed any war crimes, I might despise him less. But, at the end of the day, it always comes back to one thing. Manning was and is a spiteful little bitch, who was trying to hurt his comrades in arms.
Edward Snowden's actions bear a lot of resemblance to Manning's actions - but Snowden actually exposed real crimes. Snowden has clear motivations, none of which are petty and spiteful. Edward went into this thing, KNOWING that he would be sacrificing his job, and maybe his life. Snowden accepted those risks, and took action to minimize the risks. Manning - thoughtlessly and carelessly snatched everything he could get, and sent it off to the only correspondent he could reach.
I could go on, but it's time I headed out to work.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 18 2017, @02:34AM (4 children)
I neglected to mention what seemed obvious to me, but may be less obvious to others.
If Manning can manage to get a general under honorable conditions, or better, then he has access to Veteran's Administration health services. What that means to Manning, personally, is a free sex change operation, free hormones, free whatever. And, what that means to the Lickbutt (How do you pronounce LGBT, anyway?) community, is that the government/military has to do gender reassignment for people who request it.
(Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Thursday May 18 2017, @03:27AM (3 children)
I think people generally just read the letters when they pronounce LGBT, as in el-gee-bee-tee. I hope that helps. There are a lot of trans women who are also army veterans. I think over half of the local trans support group were deployed in Vietnam, though some were in the Gulf.
I haven't gone since before Manning became a headline, so I don't know how they feel about Manning. Thinking about one older woman in particular I remember from support group who served in Vietnam, I would bet that she also disapproves of Manning's actions.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 18 2017, @03:31AM (2 children)
You're wasting your time on this guy. He's either intensely frightened or hiding his own queerness (or some of both) and it's hilariously transparent, but what he is *not* doing is asking questions in good faith.
...personally I think it's because he fantasizes about smoking more sausage than a German butcher shop, possibly while wearing a dress, but I could be wrong :D
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 18 2017, @01:46PM (1 child)
'Zumi, you gotta quit fantasizing about me.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 18 2017, @06:37PM
I don't even think about you until I come on here and see you took another half a dozen stinking dumps all over the forum. Though now that you mention it, I do wonder what kind of noise you'd make if someone lit you on fire. I guess you'll find out in a few decades, eh? :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 18 2017, @04:20AM
to be subject to the military justice system and UCMJ (in the US) you must still be in the military. on active duty no less.
While Manning's been in custody she's bern knocked down to E-1 rank. not much pay there to dock.