Why the government won't prosecute me
And why they insist on prosecuting Bradley Manning
It does not surprise me that the Commander of the Military District of Washington has decided to ignore PFC Bradley Manning's contrition, and his time served, and seek the secrecy leak equivalent of the death penalty.
The government has a lot of equities to protect in the case. Some are legitimate, others are not, and others are incidental to the case itself but essential to the functioning of a democracy with secrets.
Manning committed a crime by disclosing secrets. He saw himself as a revolutionary, a political critic who would spark debate about U.S. foreign policy. The Army should not have deployed him; he fell through the large but unavoidable holes that make up the service's mental health screening process. His 1,000-day imprisonment without trial was exceptional and unwarranted.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That said, I don't blame the government for not accepting the narrative that Manning's ardent defenders have put forth. Their Manning is a projection of their own fantasies and fears. The real Manning is a human being who got in way over his head.
The government has a funny relationship with secrets. At the level of policy, it almost facilitates leaks of classified information. Political appointees, senior government civilian executives, generals, and admirals leak in a permissive environment. Only views that are at odds with the administration's are punished. Leakers rarely are. In fact, the government does not do the one thing that it could to easily crack down on high-level national security policy leaks: It does not prosecute the distributors.
I am a distributor. I've just published a book that, I am led to believe, contains classified information. Now, perhaps an agency will ask the DOJ to investigate the source of a leak to me, the one-to-one channel of information. But unless, for the sake of kicks, the government decides to be bold, they will not prosecute me.
Manning gave his information to one person. That person gave the information to millions of people. Journalists have some legal protections, and there is some Supreme Court precedent that appears to give reporters some leeway that others don't have. The First Amendment remains a strong force. But still: If leaking secrets were truly a problem, actually harmful to national security, then journalists would be touchable. The worst the government can do — and it is bad, at times — is get a judge to jail us for not divulging our source. Even though WE committed the act of disclosing information too — arguably, the act that led to people knowing about it — we're untouchable.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
I'm glad the government doesn't go after journalists in the way they do the leakers. Actually, it's unfair to one category of leakers: the category of government employees who are LEAST likely to leak. Those are the grunts, the worker bees, the men and women who get stuff done. They very rarely disclose classified information inappropriately, which is one reason why Manning's case was so significant. But every government counter-intelligence program aimed at leaks focuses on these people. I sometimes think it's a way of pretending to punish leakers to satisfy Congress while leaving for themselves huge avenues for them to shape policy or perception by leaking.
There absolutely is a double standard. And it may be a necessary one (from the standpoint of the executive branch), in that leaks and the control of secrets often help grease the wheels of some of the more seamier parts of democracy.
But the person who actually gave up Valerie Plame's identity has never been prosecuted.
The person who told David Sanger the unclassified program nickname and confirmed that Stuxnet was a U.S. computer network attack against Iran will not be prosecuted, even though the universe of people who knew the nickname was vanishingly small. Sanger won't be prosecuted.
But Bradley Manning — Manning will be held as an example.
If the government really wanted to crack down on leaks, they should prosecute me.
But they won't.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Marc Ambinder is TheWeek.com's editor-at-large. He is the author, with D.B. Grady, of The Command and Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry. Marc is also a contributing editor for The Atlantic and GQ. Formerly, he served as White House correspondent for National Journal, chief political consultant for CBS News, and politics editor at The Atlantic. Marc is a 2001 graduate of Harvard. He is married to Michael Park, a corporate strategy consultant, and lives in Los Angeles.
-
Passenger: 'pleasingly off-kilter' ITV crime drama
The Week Recommends There's 'plenty to be feared' in this British murder mystery set in a quiet northern town
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: March 27, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku hard: March 27, 2024
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published