Pentagon rounds on whistle blower

Knoxville Times Saturday 4th February, 2012

A private in the U.S. Army is to face a court martial after leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks.

Private First Class Bradley Manning, 24, has been in prison since his arrest one-and-a-half years ago when he was 22. He has been held in solitary confinement and subjected to sleep deprivation measures.

Manning leaked around 250,000 diplomatic cables which detailed private conversations between diplomats in embassies around the world. He passed the documents to WikiLeaks which then published the information in major newspapers such as The New York Times in the United States and The Guardian in the UK.

The disclosures caused widespread embarrassment for the U.S. and its allies, however little other damage resulted. Soon after details of the cables began to be published many in the U.S. demanded Manning be charged with treason, with some calling for his execution.

Manning argued he believed the public had a right to know the contents of the documents leaked as they were often told information that was blatantly false.

The U.S. Army is taking a risk in charging Manning as his lawyers could argue that as a low-ranking soldier he should never have had access to such an array of classified documents. The army has conceded the young soldier, who was serving in Iraq, had personal problems and reports of these had been brought to the attention of his superiors but they failed to act on the reports. A review of the matter has also yielded the army was lax as far as computer security is concerned.

The army is fielding criticism over the treatment of Manning, holding him without trial for eighteen months in conditions described by Amnesty International as harsh and punitive. Even now a date has not been set for the court martial.

The soldier has had 22 charges filed against him. One of the charges is "aiding the enemy," a capital offense which could render him the death penalty. Army prosecutors say he put American lives in danger, and threatened U.S. national security. If convicted Manning could spend the rest of his life in prison. Army prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty. Some lawmakers have argued Manning should be sent to Guantanamo Bay.