Manning leaks led to much of what we know about soldier deaths and Bowe Bergdahl

From what I understand the circumstantial evidence is hard to ignore. Dude had asked fellow soldier how he could send his computer and personal effects home and how to get his hands on some money.

I’d say he made the mistake of joining the military.

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If they actually thought at the time that he was a deserter, why would they be making a huge effort to search for him? If it was to capture and punish him for desertion, I put the blame for anybody killed in the search on his officers, not on him.

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“Sanity” vs “mental issues” vs “stupidity” isn’t the best word to have to use for anything anybody does to get out of a war. War isn’t a sane process. There are stupid ways to try to get out of a war, like trying to walk home from Afghanistan, but desperation is a mother.

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How many lives has Bush changed for the worse?

Hundreds of millions… (I figure)

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[quote=“rattypilgrim, post:20, topic:33552”]
Since the 9/11 terrorists were all Saudis why didn’t Bush attack Saudi Arabia instead of Afghanistan
[/quote]Because the training bases and al Qaeda operations were in Afghanistan and not Saudi?

What part of the constitution did he violate? And did he know that the information was false?

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Are you joking? You do realize that al Qaeda is an enemy of Saudi Arabia, right? And you do realize that any al Qaeda member that the Saudis catch, they will likely chop of their heads, even before 9/11, right? Are you really trying to suggest that nationalities matter here or that the 9/11 terrorists acted with the support of the Saudi government? I would say that nationalities don’t matter and that the terrorist acted with the support of the Taliban. That is why they are a valid military target while Saudi Arabia is not.

Well, there was also the mistake of not being born rich, or the mistake of being born into Idahoa-Murica. It’s turtles humping each other in a giant squirming pyramid.

A faction of insane Saudi right-wingers bent on turning Saudi Arabia into an even more insane theocracy is going to necessarily be a group of Saudis, who, because Saudi is pretty oppressive, couldn’t really base the military part of their movement in Saudi Arabia itself. For whatever reason, many ended up in Afghanistan. It’s arguable whether our (most recent) war in Afghanistan was effective or just, but there was definitely a direct connection between al Queda, the Taliban, and al Queda’s presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Not so with Iraq. The justification for war with Iraq was a completely cynical fantasy.

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No, getting out by walking into a wild war zone is not sane. The very best that gets you is being a fugitive with no way home.
Plenty have simply said they couldn’t hack it, refused to continue, gone to the chaplain/psych and swallowed a dishonorable discharge. That way you can go home and restart your life. There are sane ways to leave, and not-connected-with-reality ways. My point is that if he wasn’t connected with reality he should not be punished.

Who said that? The anonymous people? Let them speak up and show the email, until then it’s just conjecture.

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It is not conjecture. As I said, the NYT has people on record saying it. And the NYT is not the Daily Mail or the New York Post. Even when they have people off the record, they have a history of reliability.

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