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Should the wiki-leaker be excuted for treason?

* Should the wiki-leaker be excuted for treason?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 8 20.0%
  • No.

    Votes: 32 80.0%

  • Total voters
    40
  • Poll closed .
As if you are so enlightened, please. Where is your enlightened compassion for the folk who are at greater risk due to this persons treason. There is nothing "primitive" here.

Orion's just quacking standard Kanuckistani anti-American drivel.
 
Hmm you do know that first the wiki-leaker is Australian and hence cant be charged for treason in the US.

Now the US citizen that gave him the material could be, but guessing that he is white and in the military, then that wont happen. Funny how all the anger has been thrown the Australian but not a peep on the US solider that gave him the information.

Ummm.... Why are you trolling and trying to turn this into a race debate?
 
Should the wiki-leaker, the moron in the military that leaked the docs to wiki-leaks, be executed for treason?

Yes?
No?
NO, of course not...where does this insanity end?
Bush and Cheney sucked us into this war - so they too should be hung..
We are supposed to learn from our mistakes...but some simply take longer.
 
Should the wiki-leaker, the moron in the military that leaked the docs to wiki-leaks, be executed for treason?

Yes?
No?

Give him the same punishment that I. "Scooter" Libby got.
 
Hmm you do know that first the wiki-leaker is Australian and hence cant be charged for treason in the US.

Now the US citizen that gave him the material could be, but guessing that he is white and in the military, then that wont happen. Funny how all the anger has been thrown the Australian but not a peep on the US solider that gave him the information.

Only non-white Americans are charged with treason, eh?

U.S. Supporter of Al-Qaeda Is Indicted on Treason Charge - washingtonpost.com
 
How so? I'm pretty sure it's treason.

Treason was specifically defined in the United States Constitution, the only crime so defined. Article III Section 3 delineates treason as follows:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

However, Congress has, at times, passed statutes creating related offenses that undermine the government or the national security, such as sedition in the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts, or espionage and sedition in the 1917 Espionage Act, which do not require the testimony of two witnesses and have a much broader definition than Article Three treason. For example, some well-known spies have been convicted of espionage rather than treason.”

To rise to the level of treason, one must look to the definition as stated in our Constitution. The bolded part above makes it very difficult for a conviction. Two witnesses or a confession.

List of people convicted of treason in the United States of America:

Philip Vigol and John Mitchell, convicted of treason and sentenced to hanging; pardoned by George Washington; see Whiskey Rebellion.
Governor Thomas Dorr 1844, convicted of treason against the state of Rhode Island; see Dorr Rebellion; released in 1845; civil rights restored in 1851; verdict annulled in 1854. John Brown, convicted of treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1859 and executed for attempting to organize armed resistance to slavery.
Aaron Dwight Stevens, took part in John Brown's raid and was executed for treason against Virginia.
William Bruce Mumford 1862 convicted of treason and hanged for tearing down a United States flag during the American Civil War.
Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt in 1865 hanged for treason and conspiracy for the Lincoln assassination and conspiracy - by military tribunal.
Iva Toguri D'Aquino, who is frequently identified with "Tokyo Rose" convicted 1949. Subsequently pardoned by President Gerald Ford.
Herbert Hans Haupt German-born naturalized U.S. citizen, in 1942 was convicted of treason and executed for giving aid and comfort to the enemy (his son) and for espionage.
Martin James Monti, United States Army Air Force pilot, convicted of treason for defecting to the Waffen SS in 1944l; sentenced to 25 years.
Robert Henry Best, convicted of treason on April 16, 1948 and served a life sentence.
Mildred Gillars, "Axis Sally," convicted of treason on March 8, 1949, served 12 years of a 10- to 30-year prison sentence.
Tomoya Kawakita, sentenced to death for treason in 1952, but eventually released by President John F. Kennedy to be deported to Japan.

List of people convicted of treason - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Only seven people have been executed for treason against the United States. All tolled, only fourteen were ever charged with treason. The bar is waaaay high. Espionage, not so much.
 
This thread has been illuminating for the lack of reading comprehension.

I think the OP was pretty clear (but I guess folks read the headline only), and then clarified a few posts down... THIS IS ABOUT THE MILITARY DWEEB THAT LEAKED TO WIKI-LEAKS... not the scum from Australia trying to hide in Sweden.

Phew.

:peace

.
He's not merely a spy... he swore to defend and protect this country and instead sold us out and jeopardized our security. That's betrayal, which is treason.

I think he should be made an example of and executed. If not now... when?

.

Incorrect on the bolded part. He swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic, while bearing true faith to the same.



Since this isn't a declared war, he is fulfilling his obligation to support and defend the Constitution by informing the People of the violations of the oath of office taken by every civilian government official.
 
Incorrect on the bolded part. He swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic, while bearing true faith to the same.

http://www.history.army.mil/faq/oaths.htm

Since this isn't a declared war, he is fulfilling his obligation to support and defend the Constitution by informing the People of the violations of the oath of office taken by every civilian government official.

Declared, not declared... doesn't matter... these are national security secrets.
I'd love to see his defense try that tact... it'd be a suicide mission.

.
 
Hmm you do know that first the wiki-leaker is Australian and hence cant be charged for treason in the US.

Now the US citizen that gave him the material could be, but guessing that he is white and in the military, then that wont happen. Funny how all the anger has been thrown the Australian but not a peep on the US solider that gave him the information.

Here we go again...

EU... I think most here don't know what color the leaker is, and don't care.

PS. This thread and poll was solely focused on the US Soldier. Those that didn't read the OP... swerved it to something else.

.
 
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Declared, not declared... doesn't matter... these are national security secrets.
I'd love to see his defense try that tact... it'd be a suicide mission.

.

It actually makes a big difference since in order for it to be treason there has to be a declared war. Since it's not a declared war then all of the civilian government employees are in violation of their oath of office.

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
 
Should the wiki-leaker, the moron in the military that leaked the docs to wiki-leaks, be executed for treason?

Yes?
No?

You know what I don't understand: if they WERE classified then WHY is it still "OK" for him to release the documents (yes, even after they've been altered)

Why aren't they stepping in and halting his actions?
 
No, I mean Libby. Fitzgerald was satisfied that Richard Armitage didn't have an agenda for leaking Plame's identity. And to be clear, it wasn't Fitzgerald's mission to find anyone guilty of any law. His mission was to find out the "why" her identity was leaked. He stated that very clearly on the day Libby was indicted.

What does "agenda" have to do with anything?

And Fitzgerald didn't indict Libby for leaking.

So no, your analogy does not work.
 
You know what I don't understand: if they WERE classified then WHY is it still "OK" for him to release the documents (yes, even after they've been altered)

Why aren't they stepping in and halting his actions?

They can't turn off the interwebz. Yet.
 
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He exposed lies, cover-ups, abuses, and war crimes. Far from an execution, he should get a ****in' medal. He deserves the label of "hero" far more than some of the trigger-happy grunts in our military who think war is like playing Call of Duty.

As far as what he could be charged with, Korimyr is right about treason not being applicable. However, espionage is not a sure thing either. Under U.S. law, from what I can tell, espionage only applies when a person has intent or reason to believe the information will do injury to the United States or of benefit to a foreign nation.

Any argument about intent will be a simple thing to disprove. His own conversations attest to the fact that he was interested in exposing criminal abuses by the government, not in doing injury to the United States. So they would have to argue that he had a "reason to believe" it would do injury to the United States, because it would be harder to argue that he felt it would be to the advantage of a foreign nation.

Given the circumstances and the wording of the law I can see a very strong argument being made against any espionage charge.

I have no use for the guy, I hope he never sees the light of day again, but executing him seems to be going a bit far to my mind.

I find it interesting that someone proclaiming to be "very liberal" wishes that whistleblowers who expose government abuses and war crimes would rot in prison for life.
 
Hang him from the neck until dead.

I don't care if he's legally a traitor or not. The law has never stopped our government before.
 
I have no use for the guy, I hope he never sees the light of day again, but executing him seems to be going a bit far to my mind.

we used to find propaganda videos that AQI would make of the children of local notables whom they suspected of working with us. they would tape them begging, pleading, screaming for their parents to save them, stop working for the Americans, etc and so forth, as they were taken apart piece by piece, and then scattered across the city, piece by piece.

children.

this guy has potentially doomed hundreds if not thousands of innocents to the same fate. being executed by a bullet is better than he deserves.
 
we used to find propaganda videos that AQI would make of the children of local notables whom they suspected of working with us. they would tape them begging, pleading, screaming for their parents to save them, stop working for the Americans, etc and so forth, as they were taken apart piece by piece, and then scattered across the city, piece by piece.

children.

this guy has potentially doomed hundreds if not thousands of innocents to the same fate. being executed by a bullet is better than he deserves.

I could have gone a lifetime without reading those words.

War is hell and then some.
 
we used to find propaganda videos that AQI would make of the children of local notables whom they suspected of working with us. they would tape them begging, pleading, screaming for their parents to save them, stop working for the Americans, etc and so forth, as they were taken apart piece by piece, and then scattered across the city, piece by piece.

children.

this guy has potentially doomed hundreds if not thousands of innocents to the same fate. being executed by a bullet is better than he deserves.

I read one source where the Taliban said they were comparing the names to 1,800 they already have on a wanted list. Since many of these names were likely in the public domain already, or at least already known by the Taliban, chances are no one was endangered.
 
we used to find propaganda videos that AQI would make of the children of local notables whom they suspected of working with us. they would tape them begging, pleading, screaming for their parents to save them, stop working for the Americans, etc and so forth, as they were taken apart piece by piece, and then scattered across the city, piece by piece.

children.

this guy has potentially doomed hundreds if not thousands of innocents to the same fate. being executed by a bullet is better than he deserves.

We read propaganda posts here daily, some more melodramatic than others.
 
we used to find propaganda videos that AQI would make of the children of local notables whom they suspected of working with us. they would tape them begging, pleading, screaming for their parents to save them, stop working for the Americans, etc and so forth, as they were taken apart piece by piece, and then scattered across the city, piece by piece.

children.

this guy has potentially doomed hundreds if not thousands of innocents to the same fate. being executed by a bullet is better than he deserves.



I've heard of this.



****ing savages.
 
Hmm you do know that first the wiki-leaker is Australian and hence cant be charged for treason in the US.

Now the US citizen that gave him the material could be, but guessing that he is white and in the military, then that wont happen. Funny how all the anger has been thrown the Australian but not a peep on the US solider that gave him the information.

Hmmm...An Australian using real information against the US government. Is it any different than the Australian who uses misinformation on a daily basis to overthrow our government?
 
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