Chelsea (Bradley) Manning Is An Ungrateful Child

Trump defends Obama from Chelsea Manning’s criticism

Sara Gonzales 2 hours

President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama talk as they pause on the steps of the East Front of the U.S. Capitol Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)

46Follow

• SHARE
• TWEET

President Donald Trump defended former President Barack Obama after Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning criticized Obama’s lack of leadership in a column Manning penned for The Guardian.

Trump logged on to Twitter to share his thoughts following the publication of Manning’s column Thursday morning. While defending Obama from Manning’s criticisms, Trump included a dig at Obama for commuting Manning’s sentence, a controversial decision he made just days before leaving office.

“Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader,” Trump said. “Terrible!”

 Follow

Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!

6:04 AM - 26 Jan 2017

 
•  21,22421,224 Retweets
 
•  87,16987,169 likes

Manning wrote that Obama left behind “hints of a progressive legacy” but said that ultimately progressives needed a stronger leader able to do more than what Obama was able to accomplish:

This vulnerable legacy should remind us that what we really need is a strong and unapologetic progressive to lead us. What we need as well is a relentless grassroots movement to hold that leadership accountable.

Manning was originally sentenced in 2013 to 35 years in military prison for stealing classified and sensitive government documents and handing them over to the WikiLeaks organization for publishing and distribution.

Obama defended his decision to commute all but four months of Manning’s remaining time in prison, saying the sentence was too long when compared to the sentences previous leakers had received. His critics slammed him for catering to the LGBT community. Manning, who was born a man with the given name Bradley, announced a day after his sentencing that he wanted to live as a female and go by the name Chelsea. He began transitioning to a transgender woman while serving time at the Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas.

Bergdahl Was A Traitor And Administration Knew It.

Ex-Bergdahl Roommate: White House Knew He Was a Traitor Before Swap

Friday, 20 Jun 2014 07:15 PM

By Bill Hoffmann

Share:

  Get Short Link |

  Email Article |

  Comment  |

   Contact Us  |

  Print  

|  A   A  

• inShare

The former roommate of Bowe Bergdahl — the U.S. Army sergeant traded for five Taliban militants — says the government knew very well he was a traitor when they were making the controversial swap.

"They have all the documentation on it. The administration knew he deserted, they knew he wasn't a hero,'' retired Army Spc. Cody Full told "The Steve Malzberg Show" onNewsmax TV.

"They knew that he wasn't captured on a battlefield or lagged behind on a patrol. They knew he went out and deserted on his own.''Bergdahl was held captive in Afghanistan by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network from June 2009 until May of this year.

He was traded for five high-ranking Taliban members who were being held at Guantanamo Bay — a secret deal made without the consultation of Congress.



But the swap quickly came under fire when Bergdahl's fellow soldiers went public to accuse him of abandoning his post and possibly seeking out the enemy.

Full angrily disagreed with National Security Advisor Susan Rice's declaration that Bergdahl had served his country with "honor and distinction."

"Deserting is not serving with honor and distinction and it's a spit in the face to every U.S. service member who has served with honor and distinction, who has fulfilled his oath. It's disgusting,'' Full said.

He criticized the fanfare surrounding the Obama administration's announcement of the deal, which was highlighted by an event in the Rose Garden of the White House in which Bergdahl's family attended.

"[It] is gross. I mean how many soldiers that have given their lives honorably for this country, how many of their parents had a Rose Garden ceremony?'' he asked.

Full said a congressional oversight committee should be formed to further explore how Bergdahl's actions led to his captivity by terrorists.

"I don't want to see this get whitewashed,'' he said.

As to why the swap was made, Full is clueless.

"I don't know why it was done, I have no idea…. It's just wrong on so many levels,'' he said.

Bergdahl Story Gets Very Strange. Will Not Call Parents.

Reports: Bergdahl Declines to Talk to Family

Sunday, 08 Jun 2014 06:35 PM

By Greg Richter

Share:

  Get Short Link |

  Email Article |

  Comment  |

   Contact Us  |

  Print  

|  A   A  

• inShare

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has apparently been given an opportunity to talk to his family by telephone while he recovers at a U.S. military hospital in Germany, but has declined the offer, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Journal quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying doctors are moving slowly with Bergdahl because of the continuing controversy over his release. He was held almost five years by the Taliban-connected Haqqani network after being seized outside his base in Afghanistan.



But after President Barack Obama announced Bergdahl's release in a Rose Garden ceremony May 31 with Bergdhal's parents on hand, and White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Bergdahl served with "honor and disctintion" on television the next day, Bergdahl's former platoon members began to criticize him publicly.

Bergdahl walked away from his post without telling anyone in 2009 as was quickly seized and taken into captivity. He had walked off base on at least one prior occasion and returned.

Some of his platoon members have said he is a deserter,  but a military investigation of his disappearance is not yet complete until Bergdahl gives his own account. A 2012 Rolling Stone article quoted Bergdahl as telling his parents in emails that he was ashamed to be an American.

Bergdahl's release is also receiving political fallout. Members of Congress from both parties have criticized Obama for releasing five high-level Taliban officials from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba without consulting them, as is legally required.

The White House has argued that Bergdahl's health and safety were at risk, making 30 days' notice impossible.

Further, Bergdahl's own father, Bob, has been criticized for speaking Arabic at the Rose Garden ceremony and for seeming to sympathize with his son's captors by growing a long beard and advocating via social media for release of all the Guantanamo detainees. The elder Bergdahl has said he wanted to appear sympathetic to the Taliban in hopes of securing his son's release.

But threats against the family and Bergdahl's hometown of Hailey, Idaho have forced the cancelation of a planned welcome-home celebration later this month.

All the controversy could play into Bergdahl's psychological recovery.

He continues to improve physically, but continues to need care psychologically as a result of his captivity, an official told NBC News. 

Defense officials confirmed to NBC that Bergdahl was "locked up [and had] his movements restricted" after one of his five attempts at escape. The official said, "it’s not clear whether it was a small cell or a box, but he was apparently closely confined."

The New York Times reported that Bergdahl was put into a "shark cage."

As to reports Bergdahl was tortured, the official told NBC that "he was clearly treated more harshly at some times," but it is unclear whether that treatment ever rose to the level of torture.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told The Associated Press on Friday that Bergdahl was kept under "good conditions."



Related Stories:

• FBI Investigates Threats Against Bergdahl Family
• Destination of Taliban Detainees Is Hotbed of Terrorism

© 2014 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Bergdahl: A Lesson Of The Mideast Bazaar. Some People Are Better Negotiators Than Others. Obama In The Latter Category.

Obama Makes Worst Trade Since American Indians Sold Manhattan For $24

June 6, 2014 by Wayne Allyn Root 

 45 11

 

 0 120

Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. President Barack Obama has done it again! He’s found an unimaginable way to both damage and embarrass America at the same time.

Remember how the American Indians gave up Manhattan? The Indians were robbed. They were conned into selling Manhattan for $24 of trinkets in 1626.

That was the worst trade in history. Until now.

Obama’s trade for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl now tops the infamous list of “Worst Trades in History.”

In the sports world there have been many legendary bad trades. Julius Irving. Kobe Bryant. Nolan Ryan. Hershel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for an entire team of players and draft picks that led to three Super Bowl victories for the Dallas Cowboys.

But the worst sports trade ever was the Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees. The Red Sox didn’t win another title for 86 years. The Yankees became the greatest American sports franchise in history. They won seven World Championships with Babe Ruth.

It was called “The Curse of the Bambino.”

Executives got fired for those horrible one-sided trades. Teams were embarrassed. Legends were created. Billions of dollars of franchise value was created (and lost). But none of those trades led to danger, disaster or the potential death of thousands of Americans.

Obama takes the cake. He traded one obvious deserter for five of the most cunning, vicious mass murderers and America-haters in history. Mass murderers and friends of Osama bin Laden were freed by America.

What did we get? A traitor who purposely walked away from his base, searching for the enemy to surrender to:

• Who made comments about his disillusion with America.
• Who may have converted to Islam and taught bomb-making skills to the Taliban.
• Whose search and rescue cost the lives of as many as 14 heroes (his military brothers).

And here’s the most bizarre and disconcerting thing of all. At the White House ceremony announcing the trade, Bergdahl’s father spoke in Arabic. It is reported the father converted to Islam.

That’s what we traded five mass murderers for? That’s what Obama broke the law for?

The trades of Manhattan and Babe Ruth are both looking pretty good by comparison.

Keep in mind those five sworn enemies of America — mass murderers all — haven’t even gotten back on the battlefield. Yet.

But when they do, remember they were set free by our own President, to rain hell down on our American hero soldiers. Remember they were set free by our own President to plot a new 9/11 that could kill thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Americans (think dirty bomb).

The world is shocked and horrified. America’s enemies are laughing and high-fiving. Our military is demoralized. Our economy is in free fall. Our dignity and legacy are in tatters. Our reputation across the globe is shattered. One man has destroyed the once-great America.

Why did Obama break the law to trade for one deserter? Why would he risk all hell breaking loose for one traitor who cost the lives of as many as 14 military heroes? Two reasons:

• First, Obama was desperate to get the Veterans Affairs scandal out of the headlines. He had to change the topic away from neglect and fraud causing the death and suicide of American military vets under his leadership. How better to change the subject and erase the scandal involving abuse, neglect and even murder of military vets than by appearing to be a Commander in Chief rescuing an American military prisoner of war. Obama had delusions of grandeur, overnight going from bum to hero.
• Second, my sources in military command positions tell me that the CIA reported to Obama that Bergdahl was about to go on global television to denounce America, call our military evil — and do it all in Arabic. Obama would have been humiliated. His narrative of being such a big victor over al-Qaida and the Taliban would have been destroyed in front of the whole world, live on global television.

So here was the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone. But it all backfired as word got out of the betrayal by this American soldier, the deaths of 14 of his military brothers searching for him, his father speaking in Arabic, the danger that the release of those mass murderers presents, Obama claiming we will “keep eyes on them” and then, within minutes, an official in the Mideast counteracting Obama’s words and reporting these mass murderers are free as jaybirds to roam Qatar for the next year — and then free to return to the battlefield.

Obama is either a complete fool; a reckless, naive idiot who doesn’t understand who he is negotiating with; or complicit in a crime against America. You decide. But either way, he broke the law by making the deal without informing Congress.

Forget the humiliation of selling Manhattan for $24. Forget “the Curse of the Bambino.” Forget all the humiliating trades in history. This one takes the cake. Babe Ruth is rolling over in his grave.

This curse won’t lose seven World Championships or three Super Bowls. This curse could cost America our international credibility and lead to more kidnappings of American soldiers and the deaths of hundreds or even thousands of deaths to Americans if these mass murderers are emboldened to create a new 9/11.

This is the “Curse of Barack Hussein Obama.” America may never recover.

I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. See you next week. God bless.

Obama Team Does NOT Understand The Military, Its Traditions and Price You Pay When You Desert. Bergdahl Should Serve The Balance Of His Life In Levenworth!

  Although we agree with many things Ralph Peters says in the following piece, we do not agree with his suggestion that Bergdahl should be able to go home to Idaho and live out his life. He deserted his fellow troops in a dangerous engagement, gave aid and comfort to the enemy and potentially gave them lessons on explosive building and the art of roadside bombs. If the latter is proven, jail would be too good for him.

Fort Levenworth in Kansas is the location of the military's jail system. This is where Bowe should live out his days. To give him a less sentence will send a message to all military personnel that desertion is not a big deal!

Conservative Tom

Why Team Obama Was Blindsided by the Bergdahl Backlash The president and Ms. Rice seem to think that the crime of desertion in wartime is kind of like skipping class. By Ralph Peters http://www.nationalreview.com/article/379481/why-team-obama-was-blindsided-bergdahl-backlash-ralph-peters Congratulations, Mr. President! And identical congrats to your sorcerer’s apprentice, National Security Adviser Susan Rice. By trying to sell him as an American hero, you’ve turned a deserter already despised by soldiers in the know into quite possibly the most-hated individual soldier in the history of our military. I have never witnessed such outrage from our troops. Exhibit A: Ms. Rice. In one of the most tone-deaf statements in White House history (we’re making a lot of history here), the national-security advisor, on a Sunday talk show, described Bergdahl as having served “with honor and distinction.” Those serving in uniform and those of us who served previously were already stirred up, but that jaw-dropper drove us into jihad mode. But pity Ms. Rice. Like the president she serves, she’s a victim of her class. Nobody in the inner circle of Team Obama has served in uniform. It shows. That bit about serving with “honor and distinction” is the sort of perfunctory catch-phrase politicians briefly don as electoral armor. (“At this point in your speech, ma’am, devote one sentence to how much you honor the troops.”) I actually believe that Ms. Rice was kind of sincere, in her spectacularly oblivious way. In the bestManchurian Candidate manner, she said what she had been programmed to say by her political culture, then she was blindsided by the firestorm she ignited by scratching two flinty words together. At least she didn’t blame Bergdahl’s desertion on a video. The president, too, appears stunned. He has so little understanding of (or interest in) the values and traditions of our troops that he and his advisers really believed that those in uniform would erupt into public joy at the news of Bergdahl’s release — as D.C. frat kids did when Osama bin Laden’s death was trumpeted. Both President Obama and Ms. Rice seem to think that the crime of desertion in wartime is kind of like skipping class. They have no idea of how great a sin desertion in the face of the enemy is to those in our military. The only worse sin is to side actively with the enemy and kill your brothers in arms. This is not sleeping in on Monday morning and ducking Gender Studies 101. But compassion, please! The president and all the president’s men and women are not alone. Our media elite — where it’s a rare bird who bothered to serve in uniform — instantly became experts on military justice. Of earnest mien and blithe assumption, one talking head after another announced that “we always try to rescue our troops, even deserters.” Uh, no. “Save the deserter” is a recent battle cry of the politically indoctrinated brass. For much of our history, we did make some efforts to track down deserters in wartime. Then we shot or hanged them. Or, if we were in good spirits, we merely used a branding iron to burn a large D into their cheeks or foreheads. Even as we grew more enlightened, desertion brought serious time in a military prison. At hard labor. This is a fundamental culture clash. Team Obama and its base cannot comprehend the values still cherished by those young Americans “so dumb” they joined the Army instead of going to prep school and then to Harvard. Values such as duty, honor, country, physical courage, and loyalty to your brothers and sisters in arms have no place in Obama World. (Military people don’t necessarily all like each other, but they know they can depend on each other in battle — the sacred trust Bergdahl violated.) President Obama did this to himself (and to Bergdahl). This beautifully educated man, who never tires of letting us know how much smarter he is than the rest of us, never stopped to consider that our troops and their families might have been offended by their commander-in-chief staging a love-fest at the White House to celebrate trading five top terrorists for one deserter and featuring not the families of those soldiers (at least six of them) who died in the efforts to find and free Bergdahl, but, instead, giving a starring role on the international stage to Pa Taliban, parent of a deserter and a creature of dubious sympathies (that beard on pops ain’t a tribute to ZZ Top). How do you say “outrageous insult to our vets” in Pashto? Nor, during the recent VA scandal, had the president troubled himself to host the families of survivors of those vets who died awaiting care. No, the warmest attention our president has ever paid to a “military family” was to Mr. and Mrs. Bergdahl. (I will refrain from criticism of the bumptious attempts to cool the flames of this political conflagration by Secretary Hagel: I never pick on the weak.) What is to be done? Behind the outrage triggered by Team Obama’s combination of cynicism and obliviousness (Bergdahl was so ill we had to set those terrorists free immediately, without notifying Congress, but now he’s chugging power shakes in a military hospital . . . and all this just happened to come at the peak of the VA scandal . . . ), military members don’t really want to lynch Bergdahl. But they want justice. Our military leaders need to rediscover their moral courage and honor our traditions, our regulations, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We need a fresh, unprejudiced 15-6 investigation (the military equivalent of a grand jury). We already know, as the military has known since the first 24 hours after Bergdahl abandoned his post, that sufficient evidence exists for a court-martial, but it’s important to do this by the numbers. It’s hard to believe that the resulting court-martial would not find Bergdahl guilty of desertion (although there will be heavy White House pressure to reduce the charge to Absent Without Leave, or AWOL, status, a lesser offense). If he is convicted, I for one do not want him to go to prison. I’m sure he’s paid and paid for betraying his comrades, quite possibly suffering brutal sexual violence. But if he is found guilty, he needs to be formally reduced to the rank of private, stripped of all privileges and entitlements (the taxpayer should not pay for a deserter’s lifelong health care — Bergdahl’s book and film deals can cover that), and he should be given the appropriate prison sentence, which would then be commuted by the president. Thereafter, let Mr. Bergdahl go home and live with himself. As for President Obama, how about just one word of thanks to the families of those fallen soldiers you sent out to find Bowe Bergdahl? — Fox News Strategic Analyst Ralph Peters is a retired Army officer and former enlisted man.