When you join the military, you take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies "foreign and domestic" (emphasis mine)
That's first. Obeying lawful orders is second.
It's debatable how this oath applies in Manning's case, but I think it's rather telling what order the things you are swearing to uphold come in.
When I was in the military my interpretation was that anything I was ordered to do that was contrary to the Constitution was an unlawful order. If I were taking the oath seriously, that would have required active dissent, not just ignoring the order.
That's first. Obeying lawful orders is second.
It's debatable how this oath applies in Manning's case, but I think it's rather telling what order the things you are swearing to uphold come in.
When I was in the military my interpretation was that anything I was ordered to do that was contrary to the Constitution was an unlawful order. If I were taking the oath seriously, that would have required active dissent, not just ignoring the order.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/oathofen...