Why I no longer participate in Jack Marshall’s Ethics Alarms
I left after Jack declared Chelsea Manning should have been executed because she “was and is a traitor.” I’d followed Manning’s story from the beginning. At about the same time, I became acquainted with Glenn Greenwald, a staunch defender, as well as Wikileaks.
Bradley Manning, a 25-year-old US private, downloaded more than 700,000 classified documents from US military servers and passed them to WikiLeaks. The Guardian was one of several news organisations to publish a series of stories based on the contents of the files. Below are 10 of the most revelatory:
• The first revelation came in 2010, from a video showing a US helicopter crew laughing as they launched an air strike killing a dozen people in Baghdad in July 2007, including a photographer and driver working for the Reuters news agency. The footage was recorded on one of two Apache helicopters which were hunting for suspected insurgents. They encounter a group of men on the ground, who do not immediately appear armed, and there is no sign of gunshots. But one helicopter crew opens fire, with shouts of “Hahaha. I hit ‘em,” and “Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards”. As the wounded are helped, one of the helicopters opens fire again, with armour-piercing shells.
If you have the stomach for it, watch the video…
Jack Marshall says,
I also (I admit it: I knew I would) triggered a freak-out here, and some unfair insults that I will gracefully ignore, by stating that I would have supported execution for Manning, who was and is a traitor.
Freak out I did, but I never insulted Jack or his fellows, as you will see in a moment.
Jack wrote this on Aug. 27 in response to (names redacted)…
I’m going to ask you to stop spreading false Left wing narratives and propaganda here, _____. If Trump said something that false, he would be called a liar. She was NOT tortured. Headlines said that the UN claimed she was tortured, but that doesn’t make it true. The UN is an anti-US propaganda organization, but even then. what was actually said doesn’t amount to a legitimate finding of torture:
The UN special rapporteur on torture has formally accused the US government of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment towards Bradley Manning, the US soldier who was held in solitary confinement for almost a year on suspicion of being the WikiLeaks source.
Juan Mendez has completed a 14-month investigation into the treatment of Manning since the soldier’s arrest at a US military base in May 2010. He concludes that the US military was at least culpable of cruel and inhumane treatment in keeping Manning locked up alone for 23 hours a day over an 11-month period in conditions that he also found might have constituted torture.
“The special rapporteur concludes that imposing seriously punitive conditions of detention on someone who has not been found guilty of any crime is a violation of his right to physical and psychological integrity as well as of his presumption of innocence,” Mendez writes.
Except that Manning was found guilty in a court maartial, and the US does not regard solitary confinement as torture under US law. Thus you can say that some have called what Manning endured “torture,” but you cannot state as fact that she was tortured.
I think she should have faced a firing squad.
This exchange followed… names withheld
- August 28, 2017 at 9:54 am
- Jack wrote, “I think she should have faced a firing squad.”
- I agree.
- I’d be willing to personally provide the weapon, the bullet, and the person to squeeze the trigger.
- August 28, 2017 at 8:45 pm
- No, no! Get away! I can handle this! I’m a good shot! But…can I have three bullets? And a little extra time?
- August 28, 2017 at 9:15 pm
- __________ wrote, “No, no! Get away! I can handle this! I’m a good shot! But…can I have three bullets? And a little extra time?”
- If you can’t shoot the pecker off a mosquito at 300 meters in one shot using your own rifle, or the eye of a gnat at 25 meters in one shot with your own pistol shot, you’re a NO GO at my station and you’ll likely be recycled when your instructor gets wind of your firearm incompetence.
My final comment below…
- fattymoon
- August 27, 2017 at 6:38 pm
- Jack said, “I think she should have faced a firing squad.”
- I say, goodbye everyone. I’m done here.
I’d been a participant on Jack’s site since March 18, 2011 when I posted my thoughts about the Casey the Punisher.
If you need refreshing, this viral video was the hot topic that day…
I wrote…
At first I was with the herd, but, upon reflection, I changed my tune. This morning I wrote the boys a letter. It’s at http://fattymoon.posterous.com/the-bully-and-the-punisher-are-both-angels#
It reads:
An open letter to Casey (The Punisher) Heynes and Ritchard Gale
“I’m a victim too,” says Ritchard Gale, the bully boy who got body-slammed by Casey Heynes.
Dear Ritchard and Casey,
I’ve been thinking about this incident and I now realize you are each other’s angels in disguise.
Casey, this isn’t the first time you’ve been bullied. It’s been going on for years. You were so desperate at one point that you contemplated suicide. Ritchard’s actions actually turned your life around.
Ritchard, my initial thoughts about you were most unpleasant, however, I soon began having second thoughts. You are correct when you say that you, too, are a victim.
You are both victims. And, while Casey is now a celebrated celebrity, you are spit upon and vilified.
You helped Casey turn his life around. But the story need not end there. Now it’s your turn to get your life in order. Whether Casey agrees to help you or not, and I hope he will, it is you, Ritchard, who must take that first step. Casey is redeemed, thanks to you. Your redemption depends on no one but yourself, so you must not depend on Casey’s help. However, I intuit that you and he have been around this block before, if you get my drift. Perhaps the roles were reversed and you, Ritchard, were the victim and Casey the bully. For want of a better term, call it karma. And so, I do believe that Casey will help you like you helped him.
The time, for action, Ritchard, is now. You can jump on this most holy of opportunities and begin to shine like the diamond you are, or, you can keep on keeping on, trodding the same dismal path.
Casey, I submit that you are Ritchard’s angel, and he yours. Boys, think on these thoughts I’ve presented here, and then act on what your heart, not your head, tells you.
God bless the both of you!
Pax,
Jeffrey
The response was, shall I say, harsh and demeaning. No matter. I stayed. I liked the intelligence of the people there, even though many of their views on hot topics of the day differed from mine.
I wish Jack and friends all the best. I won’t be going there again. My conscience won’t allow it.
