Pete,
While I wholeheartedly agree with you, and Ken has done yet another fine job of explaining why Manning is still being held, I think the military spends little time entertaining nut-case theories and generally ignores mass media. I've hung around the military all my life and find that our system needs to remain strict and I see no lack of integrity.

Sam put things into perspective for all of us having worked in the prison system. If Manning was in general population several very unpopular things would have happened and we wouldn't be having this conversation nor would we be concerned at all over the outcome. For some reason what takes place among inmates seems OK and never makes the headlines.

Quote Originally Posted by Pete View Post
True. But don't do things during his detention that feed the nut-case conspiracy theories. Try and convict him for the 20 years or so that he deserves. If you hang around the U.S. Armed Forces long enough their institutational reputation for exercising probity and good judgement become very important things in the long haul. We went though some blips in Korea and Vietnam but if the basic integrity of the service shines through during thick and thin most of the opinion of the world will have confidence in us.