Posted on 06/07/2010 9:48:14 AM PDT by jazusamo
A U.S. Army intelligence analyst serving in Iraq has been arrested by federal officials for allegedly leaking classified information to the online whistleblower site Wikileaks, according to a Wired blog.
Specialist Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Md., is reportedly the source of the controversial video of a 2007 American helicopter strike that claimed the lives of several bystanders. Wikileaks published that video in April.
Manning reportedly became a target of the investigation after boasting of leaking more than a quarter of a million classified documents to former hacker Adrian Lamo, who reported him to the Army. Lamo claimed, via his Twitter account on Sunday evening, that he did so out of concern for national security.
"I outed Manning as an alleged leaker out of duty. I would never out an Ordinary Decent Criminal. There's a difference," Lamo tweeted. "I'm heartsick for Manning and his family. I hope they can forgive me some day for doing what I felt had to be done."
According to chat transcripts provided to Wired, Manning claimed to have collected and leaked a wide range of classified information to Wikileaks. They included a video showing the 2009 Garani airstrike in Afghanistan that Wikileaks has said before it possesses, a classified Army document discussing Wikileaks as a security threat that the site published in March, and 260,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables.
Hillary Clinton, and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack when they wake up one morning, and find an entire repository of classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format, to the public, Manning wrote, claiming the cables expose almost criminal political back dealings."
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange tweeted early Monday that "If Brad Manning, 22, is the 'Collateral Murder' & Garani massacre whistleblower then, without doubt, he's a national hero." He also referred to Lamo and Wired reporter Kevin Poulson, who broke the story, as "notorious felons, informers and manipulators."
Assange also claimed the Washington Post had the "Collateral Murder" video of the helicopter attack for more than a year but did not release it to the public.
The Pentagon on Monday released the following statement: "United States Division-Center is currently conducting an investigation of Spc. Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Md., who is deployed with 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division, in Baghdad, Iraq.
He was placed in pre-trial confinement for allegedly releasing classified information and is currently confined in Kuwait.
The Department of Defense takes the management of classified information very seriously because it affects our national security, the lives of our Soldiers, and our operations abroad. The results of the investigation will be released upon completion of the investigation."
They turned the McCarthy/Cohn investigation of the fifth column within the State Department and Military around and accused McCarthy of faking a photo and gave out some gay-baiting barbs at Roy Cohn who was homosexual.
They don’t take kindly to having their patriotism questioned. They may be guilty but they won’t sit back and be called out on it.
Sadly classification authority is vested in the President by law and his delegates. His delegates include the service secretaries, who further delegate to certain commanders.
Absolutely agree. Manning made the decision they were innocents and the enemedia backed him almost 100%, it wasn't his decision or the enemedias to make.
You’re correct, as CINC he has the authority. I doubt he or his subordinates would have declassified this though it’s hard to know for sure with him.
Do you have any confidence in the FBI?
Hang him high!
No, but I did mention the option of a special prosecutor. If the Valerie Plame nonstory/fiasco warranted one, why didn’t the leakage of information that put our troops in danger?
What’s weird is that the clip that Wikileaks was touting as “collateral murder” isn’t that much different than stuff you’d find on Liveleak or Youtube or good “war porn” sites like Apacheclips.com. The video itself isn’t anything special, it’s the way that Wikileaks twisted it into being “collateral murder” when in reality, it’s nothing of the sort.
Then again, if this guy really has dumped that much classified material out the door? Put him *under* Leavenworth and throw away the key.
}:-)4
bfl
If true, Brad Manning is going to become very familiar with Ft. Leavenworth.And if he gets what he deserves, Spc Manning will soon be known as the “Long Necked Hack Brady…”
I fully agree that that’s what he deserves, it would send a strong message to other traitors considering espionage.
Ping.
Betrayal by one of our own. Hang him.
Some who knows about Military Justice- am I correct in assuming that this is a capital crime given it occurred during time of war and the perpetrator was in uniform?
If this is the case, then they really need to make an example of him and try it as a capital crime and sentence him to death. Even if it is strung out for years it will certainly make some others think twice about treason in the future.
It is a real shame that Aldrich Aimes, that FBI Spy and the Walkers’s were not executed.
I am always divided on this one. I think these traitors should get the worst punishment we can possibly hand out to them. But at the same time, what about somebody who blows the whistle on dangerous unconstitutional machinations of an unpatriotic govt-in-power (like....Barry for example). Should we be cheering them on? Wasn’t this traitor also about blow the whistle on some Hillary documents as well? Would we have been a little happier about his many unpatriotic activities in that case? Or am I contradicting myself? I just think, the idea of whistle-blowers being given the capital punishment is not a given, though in this case this idiot hurt the troops so certainly has it coming.
I was AOL emailed a video of two Iraqis with a Donkey. I happened to know where that video originated. I called the OIC in to see it, he said “Oh our Donkey video.”
I said yes, that it was taken in your SECRET facility and is now being sent on the Internet. Someone compromised it.
He said “Oh.” I am not sure was action he took, probably none. I was a just a scumbag contractor at the time.
Hell, now I have to worry if I was the guy that read him on and signed his SF 312 while at Ft. Huachuca.
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