Whistleblowing is a person who informs on a person or organization engaged in any illicit or immoral activity. In this case analysis, we go over the video Collateral Murder and whether Manning act out of loyalty to the United States and if her actions constitute moral or immoral. In the video provided to Wikileaks by Manning, we follow a U.S. military operation in Baghdad where innocent civilians and kids were injured and killed. Julian Assange and Ivan Eland narrate it, and we get their perspective of the situation. The video shows the soldier’s actions and awful language Manning released the confidential video to show the world what was going on and expose all the wrongdoing she witnessed by the U.S. Military. In this Case Analysis, I will argue that Ubuntu shows that Manning did not act out of loyalty to the United States and that her actions were a moral case of whistleblowing.

               In  Vanderkerckhove and Commer’s article, he discusses in the report that there is no real loyalty to a company because a company is not a person. A company is a group or organization with values and obligations to the public, where the actual value of Loyalty lies. This notion would allow a person to be loyal to their values and beliefs while also remaining loyal to the public and, in a sense, remaining faithful to their company or organization. While also stating that Loyalty makes an employee further the interests of an organization: (a) because it feels right to do so, (b) because they are convinced it is the right thing to do, or (c) a combination of (a) and (b). You can stay loyal to their company while whistleblowing because you stay faithful to your company or organization’s values.

               In the case of Manning and whether her whistleblowing was an act against her Loyalty to the United States, I feel that Vanderkerckhove’s and Commer’s article on what is Loyalty is a good explanation of why Manning’s whistleblowing didn’t go against her devotion to the United States. As stated in the Whistle Blowing and Rational Loyalty paper, whistleblowing is an act of Loyalty if done to correct organizational misbehavior or goal displacement. In the video Collateral Murder, U.S. Defence Analyst Ivan Eland mentions that the United States made many mistakes while in Iraq and early on in Afghanistan. Manning’s action of releasing the footage changed how the United States military did its operations. The footage made both national and international news causing the United States to be under scrutiny and investigation. Manning’s whistleblowing caused the United States military to have stricter and tighter rules of engagement. In Vanderkerckhove’s and Commer’s paper, this is true Loyalty as Manning’s action is true Loyalty to the United States as the footage made the U.S. government correct the actions they caused, as explained in the video, the Pentagon compensated the children who were harmed in the incident. Vanderkerckhove and Commer’s statement that Loyalty makes an employee further the interests of an organization is valid. If you are loyal to your job or organization that you work for, make sure that everything you do is for the best intentions for your organization. In the case of Manning, her reason for whistleblowing was more of option b (because she is convinced it is the right thing to do). When someone is convinced that something is the right thing to do, they are willing to give up everything they have. This is why Manning’s whistleblowing was a moral one because she had everything to lose and nothing to gain, no fame, and no money.

               Manning was a United States Army Specialist in the 10th Mountain Division has an intelligence analyst. Manning was young and intelligent and probably had a successful military career ahead of her. So morally speaking, she had no immoral reason to commit this action. Ubuntu shows this through its meaning that a person is a person through other persons. This can be translated into a person’s humanity depends on the appreciation, preservation, and affirmation of another person’s humanity. Manning didn’t blow the whistle to gain anything she did because she witnessed innocent people get killed and injured. She nothing would have been done about it. She wanted to shed light on what was going on in the war to help and stop the innocent killing possibly.

               In Oxley and Wittkower’s article Care and Loyalty in the Workplace, they talk about how business relations are interpersonal. That both the employee and employer must work together and how to communicate with each other respectfully. Try to develop relationships of trust and respect. The article also explains how loyalty can motivate an employee to blow the whistle but also can be the motivator to attack and silence a whistleblower.

               I can see how Mannings’ actions could be classified as her being unloyal to the U.S. and as an immoral whistleblower. She didn’t go through her chain of command, she didn’t tell anyone within her organization how she felt about the situation, and her actions painted the soldiers as cold-hearted killers. If Manning felt safe and trusted someone with the military, she probably wouldn’t have leaked the footage to Wikileaks. Instead, she probably would have informed a colleague or her boss about her grievances. Then Manning could’ve learned more and understood the soldier’s mindset and why they did what they in the video. Manning also probably didn’t feel comfortable to confide to anyone because, in the military, there is a rank system or hierarchy, you can say. Manning would be considered a low-ranked soldier as her rank before being demoted was an E-4; she probably felt that her opinion didn’t matter and wouldn’t change anything.

Oxley and Wittkower’s article states that it is impossible to feel loyal to it without transcendent motives from both the individual and the organization. If the organization Manning was a part of wasn’t showing loyalty back, then there was no need for her to show loyalty in the first place. She probably didn’t safe or that her job would retaliate against her feeling they felt she would damage their image. There is a section in the article where Oxley and Wittkower talk about how loyalty and whistleblowing go together; as they go and say, whistleblowing can be very beneficial for an organization as it can change things for the better. Manning showed her loyalty by leaking the video. She knew voice wouldn’t have changed anything, and she wanted to change. She wanted better from her organization. Oxley and Wittkower, while stating that loyalty can motivate to blow the whistle, can also encourage someone to shut down a whistleblower. Manning could’ve had the motivation to go to someone within her organization to tell someone what had been going on, but she didn’t; maybe one of the reasons could’ve been because she had seen what happens to someone you tried to do it before she or she did tell someone and they told her to not speak about it.

I say that ubuntu shows us that Manning’s whistleblowing was a moral one because of the fact Manning was willing to sacrifice everything she worked for and her freedom by releasing that footage. As ubuntu tells us that everything is done to put the community’s interests ahead of the interests of the individual. Manning’s willingness to provide the video shows that she was able to put her interests aside and help the community in Baghdad.

               Even though Manning’s whistle-blowing is looked down on because, to some people, it shows disloyalty to the United States and the Military, maybe she could’ve had more people on her side if she had tried to hide or cover the identities of the other soldiers. If Manning had never leaked the information, people would have never known what was happening overseas. As stated in the Collateral Murder video by Julian Assange, the footage wasn’t released by the Pentagon. Without the whistleblower stepping forward, no one would know what was happening. This is why Manning’s action was loyal to the United States as She did not seek to aid any enemy of the United States; she believed that she was acting in the best interests of the people she served. And Whisletblowing was moral as she stood up for something that she knew was morally wrong. The leaked materials expose abuses that the American and international public arguably had a right to know.