Bradley Manning-Whistleblower Trial Set to Start

[Bill]

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U.S. soldier at center of WikiLeaks case set to go on trial Monday
ReutersBy Ian Simpson | Reuters – 3 hrs ago..


By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The American soldier accused of the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history, which prosecutors say put lives at risk, goes on trial on Monday in a case that raises questions about the limits of secrecy and openness in the Internet era.

Private First Class Bradley Manning, 25, is charged with providing more than 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks, an anti-secrecy website.

He said the move was intended to spark renewed debate on U.S. military action. But the government says the leaks damaged national security and endangered American lives. He faces a possible life sentence if convicted.

The military trial at Fort Meade, Maryland, about 30 miles northeast of Washington, is expected to run until at least late August. Prosecutors have said they expect to call more than 100 witnesses.

Civil liberties groups say the court-martial has been shrouded in secrecy and has had a chilling effect on whistleblowers.

Manning faces 21 counts, including the most serious one of aiding the enemy, as well as prosecution under the Espionage Act of 1917.

"It's probably the most dramatic example of the administration's use of the Espionage Act to prosecute leaks of information to the media," said Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program.

"It's quite dramatic, and the government will say that it's proportionate to the crime."

'CLEAR CONSCIENCE'

Manning, an intelligence analyst, was arrested in May 2010 while serving in Iraq. He was charged with downloading intelligence documents, diplomatic cables and combat videos and forwarding them to WikiLeaks, which began releasing the information that year.

Manning testified in February that he had released the files to spark a domestic debate on the military and on foreign policy in general.

"I take full responsibility for my actions," he said at the time. "I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience."

One of the leaked U.S. military videos showed a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters that killed a dozen people in Baghdad. They included two Reuters news staff, photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and driver Saeed Chmagh.

The judge in the case, Colonel Denise Lind, said last month she would close parts of the trial to the public to protect classified material. Rather than face a jury, Manning has chosen to have Lind decide his case.

Manning pleaded guilty in court in February to 10 lesser charges that he was the source of the WikiLeaks release. But prosecutors rejected the pleas and are pursuing the original charges.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes.

Nathan Fuller, a spokesman for the Bradley Manning Support Network, called the case a harbinger for U.S. media because the trial means posting government documents on the Internet could be construed as aiding the enemy.

"It's already chilled a lot of whistleblowers, a lot of soldiers don't want to talk to the press anymore. A lot of reporters are saying their sources are drying up," he said.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Scott Malone and Xavier Briand)

I'd say We the People have a right to know what the government is doing in our name. Uncle Sam is using the old saw, "endangering our troops lives" when what they really seem to be upset about is the making public of things that they find embarrassing.

[GentleBen]

And I would say that PFC Manning, regardless of his intentions, did willingly and with foreknowledge of the probable consequences violate multiple service orders and regulations by compromising the various classified networks he had access to in order to download the files (also a violation) and then again compromised the networks by transmitting the totality of the files to Wikileaks.

Regardless of your thoughts on the validity of his actions (whether or not the data deserved to be published in your opinion) his acts potentially put the entire communications infrastructure of the US Government and especially the DoD at risk. As a retired Signal Officer I can easily surmise the amount of data (other than the files that PFC Manning has admitted to have transmitted) by exposing the classified networks to unapproved systems.

[Joecooool]

He isn't going to get any sympathy from me - provided he is given the same rights as any other US citizen.

[GentleBen]

He will have the same rights as any other accused at his Court Martial - no less and (based upon the publicity) potentially more.

[mrvette]

WHY wasn't he court martialed and shot many months ago???

they got the goods, why the long trial delay???

bunch of bullshit .....

[Stangkiller]

I'm not reading the whole article, but does e qualify for the death penalty under treason?

[Bill]

Originally Posted by mrvette

WHY wasn't he court martialed and shot many months ago???

they got the goods, why the long trial delay???

bunch of bullshit .....

Note that the Ft. Hood shooter hasn't been tried yet, and his crime occurred a year earlier.

[Joecooool]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

I'm not reading the whole article, but does e qualify for the death penalty under treason?

No.

[Cybercowboy]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Note that the Ft. Hood shooter hasn't been tried yet, and his crime occurred a year earlier.

That's different. Islamic terror doesn't actually exist.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

No.

That's

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

I'm not reading the whole article, but does e qualify for the death penalty under treason?

Seems to be a fine line between committing treason and being a hero these days. See my other whistleblower thread here.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Seems to be a fine line between committing treason and being a hero these days. See my other whistleblower thread here.

I must be confused...top secret is top secret, and leaking top secret is treason...now it's just "whistle blowing"

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

I must be confused...top secret is top secret, and leaking top secret is treason...now it's just "whistle blowing"

You can call anything top secret or national security. If only Nixon had called the Watergate break in top secret national security, things might have been different.

Treason, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, it seems.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

You can call anything top secret or national security. If only Nixon had called the Watergate break in top secret national security, things might have been different.

Treason, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, it seems.

If he used a top secret clearance to acquire the material...any material...and leaked it publicly. Fk him, hang him high, he knew the risks.

[Joecooool]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

I must be confused...top secret is top secret, and leaking top secret is treason...now it's just "whistle blowing"

Nothing given to Wiki Leaks by Manning was "top secret". More than half the documents had no classification, about 40% were coded "confidential" and about 6% "secret".

[Joecooool]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Ok so 40% were of the type that "would "damage" national security if disclosed to the public.".

And 6% were of the type that "its release would cause "serious damage" to national security. Most information that is classified is held at the secret sensitivity".

Classified information in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So BFD right?

Does everything have to be argument with you?

I was explaining to Chris what was released. It does not qualify for the death penalty.

I doubt any of you can recall even a single thing that the wiki leaks released that was damaging. There might have been one or two slightly embarrassing emails, but certainly nothing that compromised national security.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

Does everything have to be argument with you?

I was explaining to Chris what was released. It does not qualify for the death penalty.

I doubt any of you can recall even a single thing that the wiki leaks released that was damaging. There might have been one or two slightly embarrassing emails, but certainly nothing that compromised national security.

I still don't understand why it doesn't qualify for the death penalty. He used a security clearance to access and release documents. That by definition is treason is it not?

The level of security, and the actual damage should be negligible.

[RedLS1GTO]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

I doubt any of you can recall even a single thing that the wiki leaks released that was damaging. There might have been one or two slightly embarrassing emails, but certainly nothing that compromised national security.

I'm assuming you had at least a Secret clearance at some point... hell, maybe you still do given your work.

Did you ever bother to pay even the slightest bit of attention as to what the laws were governing such material?

It doesn't matter what he leaked. There is no room for interpretation. If he purposefully disseminated classified material...which he did... whether 1%, 6%, or 100%, he is GUILTY. Given that he did it knowingly and willfully on his own accord, he should be prosecuted to the maximum extent on every count.

It's not up to you to decide what is important and what is a threat to security. It is completely irrelevant to his guilt. I don't give a sh*t if he released the menu for the next day's lunch. If it's classified, it is classified until downgraded by the appropriate means. Period.

Anybody attempting to downplay or justify the dissemination of it is f**king pathetic... and clueless.

[Doug28450]

Originally Posted by Cybercowboy

That's different. Islamic terror doesn't actually exist.

It wasn't Islamic terror, it was workplace frustration.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Doug28450

It wasn't Islamic terror, it was workplace frustration.

I assume you are being sardonic.....