[Rod]

All that is obvious. One does not need to come from a military family to understand that. Common sense should suffice. The interesting questions are:

1) if the WikiLeaks war logs contain "nothing new" (according to the White House), then why is that it's a problem of national security?

2) yes, guys with guns must be held to the highest standard possible; unfortunately, the civilians who have the power to send the "guys with guns" to invade sovereign nations and kill people are held to no standard at all. We didn't lower the bar, we removed the bar. Zero accountability for the decision-makers, death penalty to the pawns in uniform? Isn't a rogue executive branch potentially more dangerous than a rogue Army private?

3) did Congress authorize the war in Afghanistan? I don't remember any declaration of war. If we're not officially at war, then what Rogers claims to be "treason" does not call for capital punishment.

4) if we are at war and Manning should be executed for treason, then why not execute Cheney too? Didn't he reveal classified information and endangered Americans when he exposed Valerie Plame?

[anamax]

> if we are at war and Manning should be executed for treason, then why not execute Cheney too? Didn't he reveal classified information and endangered Americans when he exposed Valerie Plame?

Cheney didn't expose Valerie Plame - Richard Armitage was Novak's source. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plame_affair

[Rod]

Thanks for the correction.

[arethuza]

At least one experienced prosecutor (now retired) thinks that there is a case for prosecuting Bush for murder of the US soldiers who died in Iraq:

http://www.amazon.com/Prosecution-George-W-Bush-Murder/dp/B0...

[Rod]

That will never happen. Unfortunately, the political decision-makers are above the law. We all know that. Does anyone remember LBJ & McNamara being prosecuted for the deaths of 58,000 Americans and over 2,000,000 Vietnamese?

[melling]

When we get to comments like this, I think we can safely say this doesn't belong on Hacker News. There must be some other political forum where this can rehashed.

[noarchy]

And it is probably just as likely as Henry Kissinger being prosecuted. I'm sure that you may see the odd foreign judge or two throw out a summons for Bush, to little or no effect.

[Jd]

Idiocy, corruption and war profiteering != murder

[arethuza]

Actually, the author is a very experienced prosecutor who has worked on many murder cases (including Charles Manson). He certainly sounds like he knows what he is talking about!

[Rod]

Fortunately for the political class, malice can easily be disguised as incompetence. Plausible deniability makes it hard to attribute culpability.

If a mafia top dog sends his goons to invade private property, his goons get shot at and return fire and kill people, then the mafia guy is a criminal. If the commander-in-chief sends his goons in uniform to invade a sovereign nation that poses no threat to the U.S., his pawns get shot at and return fire and kill 100,000s of people, then the commander-in-chief is a national hero, and anyone who dares to disagree is a traitor, a liberal, a communist, a socialist, un-american scum. Lesson to be learned: if you want to be a criminal, avoid the private sector.

[Jd]

Yes, but what can be done about it?

[Jd]

re: (2) What do you suggest?

re: (4) Yes he may have revealed classified information but it does not appear he endangered the lives of anyone by the revelation (you think he did?)

[Rod]

re: (2) I suggest that congressmen start checking the executive branch, which is their duty. Failing to do so, they committ a soft form of treason. We expect the guys in uniform to sacrifice their lives, but the congressmen are not even expected to sacrifice their careers in the defense of the U.S. Constitution. Soldiers will continue to die for nothing, and congressmen will continue avoiding unpopular fights that might cost them votes.

[Jd]

Agreed.