WikiLeaks

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by Big Sarge

My issue with Manning is he betrayed his country and shouldn't be rewarded

My issue with the country is that it betrayed Manning, and will just continue to hurt the country by operating poorly.

I've known very many M-to-F TSs: best friends with one, good friends with two others, and had many many acquaintances. The virtual community has always been a place for them to feel comfortable, and for some, to live as women on a trial basis. Choose an appropriately sexed handle and you're good to go.

As a group, I find them to be highly interesting people before and after the transition. During, however, they are not exactly the most even-keeled folk. They will be highly emotional and sometimes irrational. And while one should have compassion for people facing a... ridiculously complicated and personal matter, challenging their deepest personal psychological condition...

They should not have security clearances that allow them access to all of the country's most important secret communications.

Much as the Army shouldn't send a soldier with a broken arm to carry a rifle into harm's way, the Army never should have put Bradley Manning in that position. They knew he was a troubled person. They apparently didn't care.

Manning testified that he spent hour after hour in the Wikileaks IRC channel, debating various Wikileaks issues. Really? Did the Army know that, and what it entailed? They should have said "I'm sorry Private (!) Manning, you will have some sort of desk duty but your Intel access is closed."

The US Army did this. Or rather, did nothing. It's like leaving Bill Buckner in to play first base even though he's injured. You don't blame Buckner when he can't field a simple ground ball. You blame the manager for not bringing in a defensive replacement. (Fuck you, John McNamara)

[Lamplighter]

They should not have security clearances that allow them access to all of the country's most important secret communications.

... unless you have some source other than your own limited experience,
I have seen nothing in the lay press to connect "they/them",
or specifically Manning to any decision to pass information to Wikileaks.

Likewise, to try to connect the military to "They apparently didn't care" is just plain silly.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

... They will be highly emotional and sometimes irrational. And while one should have compassion for people facing a... ridiculously complicated and personal matter, challenging their deepest personal psychological condition...

~They should not have security clearances that allow them access to all of the country's most important secret communications.~ ...

Exactly. "They" can be any category of service member experiencing that level of stress: those going through a messy divorce, devastating illness of an immediate family member, crisis of conscience, crisis of faith, PTSD, ... etc. Gender transitioning service members should be no exception. No one has a right to a security clearance. It's a privilege (like a driver's license) granted at the discretion of the classifying authority, upgraded or downgraded as appropriate, and access can be immediately suspended by local commanders any time they feel the need arises. One of the ways in which the need arises is when a service member gets so wound up in their unfolding personal dilemma(s) that they develop an indifference to their job.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

... the Army never should have put Bradley Manning in that position. They knew he was a troubled person. They apparently didn't care. ...

Au contraire Souscrapaud, the Army was forced to accept that aspect of Manning without reservation by the governing body politic. The Army knows that the young adults it seeks come with a variety of issues including various identity crises. Opening the door to a wider variety of them, without additional screening, opened a can of worms for local commanders. It seems that Manning's local commander decided to share the wealth.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

... The US Army did this. Or rather, did nothing. ...

The Army shared its bequeathed can of worms with its Commander in Chief. I hope he enjoyed them.