Would Obama Have Commuted Chelsea Manning's Sentence If He Was Still Bradley Manning?

President Obama's decision to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning is a puzzling one.


If not for Manning's leak of U.S. military and diplomatic secrets in 2010 would WikiLeaks have become a household name?


At the time of the leaks in July 2010, the Obama White House strongly condemned them stating the documents "could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security". In December of that year, President Obama phoned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and called the leaks "deplorable" and made similar statements to then Mexican President Felipe Calderon.


Manning was ultimately court-martialed and charged with nearly two dozen offenses pleading guilty to 10 though he would not be convicted of aiding the enemy which could have resulted in a death sentence. In 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Including time served, Manning would not have been released until 2045. Instead, Manning will be released in May.


So what has changed between the time Manning leaked the documents and now?


If Manning had leaked these kind of documents in 2017 would they not have risks the lives of Americans and our allies? Would they not have been a threat to national security? Of course they would have.


The only thing that has changed between 2010 and 2017 is that Bradley Manning is now Chelsea Manning.


Given the Obama Administration's strong support for transgender rights one must wonder if the President would have issued such a commutation had Bradley Manning remained a man.


I do not believe Obama would have issued the commutation if Manning were still a man. In which case, Obama has put identity politics (in this case the rights of the transgender community) above national security and the lives of American diplomatic and military personnel and our allies.


This isn't to say that transgender people don't or should not have civil rights. But their advancement should not come at the expense of those who put their lives on the line for our national security. The fact that Obama would commute Chelsea Manning's sentence renders Obama's previous condemnation of WikiLeaks absolutely meaningless.