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I don't see how this is a trial. He said he did it, there is only one punishment for aiding the enemy during time of war. Shoot him in the face and bury him in a shallow unmarked grave.
The court-martial of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the onetime Maryland resident at the center of the largest security breach in U.S. history, begins today at Fort Meade.
Manning, who served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq, has admitted to leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents — including diplomatic cables, Iraq and Afghanistan war logs and gunsight video footage of a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack that killed civilians in Baghdad — to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.
The 25-year-old soldier faces charges including violating the Espionage Act and aiding the enemy. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
Lawyers for the government and Manning are expected to make opening arguments Monday morning, and the government is scheduled to begin presenting witnesses in the afternoon.
Three witnesses are scheduled for Monday: Two special agents with the Army Criminal Investigative Division and Manning's roommate at Forward Operating Base Hammer in Iraq.
The roommate testified during a preliminary hearing in December 2011 that Manning "probably planned on getting out of the military."
Spec. Eric S. Baker said Manning had told him the Army "wasn't for him." He also said Manning used a computer "quite often."
"When I'd wake up in the middle of the night, he'd be on the computer," Baker said.
In cross-examination, Baker acknowledged to Manning's attorney that the two weren't friends. Baker affirmed that Manning had made statements that led him to believe he was gay, and Baker responded that it would be best if they didn't talk.
Outside the main gate to Fort Meade on Route 175 in Odenton Monday morning, a few dozen Manning supporters held signs reading "Free Brad" and other messages.
On the base, in the parking lot to the media center, stood a white box truck emblazoned "WikiLeaks Mobile Information Collection Unit" and "Release Bradley Manning."
Officials from the Military District of Washington, which is convening the court-martial, say they received more than 350 requests from news organizations for credentials to cover the proceedings. The district has made 10 seats in the courtroom and 70 seats in the media center available to reporters from around the world.
For planning purposes, officials have told reporters the trial could last 12 weeks.
The opening Monday follows more than 18 months of pretrial hearings. In February, Manning told the military judge presiding over his case that he wanted to provoke a public debate over U.S. foreign and military policy.
When WikiLeaks and several news organizations began publishing the materials in 2010, government officials said the candid political assessments and battlefield information they contained would compromise U.S. diplomacy and put American and other lives at risk.
Manning's attorneys say the release endangered no one. Damage assessments the government performed after the leak remain classified, and prosecutors have argued to keep them out of the court-martial.
Manning lived with an aunt in Potomac and studied at Montgomery College before he enlisted in the Army in 2007.
He was arrested in Baghdad in May 2010 after a hacker to whom he had described the leak went to the FBI. He was brought back to the United States, where he has been held since the arrest.
He pleaded guilty in February to several lesser charges related to leaking the material, for which he now faces up to 20 years in prison. He reaffirmed those pleas Monday to Army Col. Denise Lind, the judge presiding over his court-martial.
Manning has become a hero to some anti-war activists, who say footage of the 2007 Apache helicopter attack appears to show evidence of a war crime.
The attack in Baghdad left 12 dead, including a Reuters journalist and his driver. In the video, released by WikiLeaks under the title "Collateral Murder," the American helicopter crew can be heard laughing and referring to Iraqis as "dead bastards."
Supporters say Manning deserves some credit for fueling the Arab Spring, the wave of popular revolts that toppled authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, has roiled Syria and unsettled governments elsewhere.
On Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators marched on Fort Meade, chanting "Free Bradley Manning" and wielding signs that read "my hero" and "Americans have the right to know" to show their support.
In hearings, Manning's lawyers have sought to portray the diminutive soldier as a troubled young man who struggled with gender identity disorder, was isolated from his fellow service members and should not have been given access to the classified materials.
The materials released by WikiLeaks included field reports from Afghanistan with details of previously unreported civilian deaths and evidence of Pakistani and Iranian support of the Taliban and field reports from Iraq with details of previously unreported civilian deaths and reports of abuse, torture, rape and murder by Iraqi security forces.
Also released were diplomatic cables sent from embassies, consulates and other U.S. missions to the State Department between 1966 and 2010 containing analyses and assessments of foreign leaders and governments and economic and political conditions.
Manning's supporters say he should be protected as a whistleblower.
matthew.brown@baltsun.com
twitter.com/matthewhaybrown
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar...#ixzz2VAWU0uiV
The court-martial of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the onetime Maryland resident at the center of the largest security breach in U.S. history, begins today at Fort Meade.
Manning, who served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq, has admitted to leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents — including diplomatic cables, Iraq and Afghanistan war logs and gunsight video footage of a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack that killed civilians in Baghdad — to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.
The 25-year-old soldier faces charges including violating the Espionage Act and aiding the enemy. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
Lawyers for the government and Manning are expected to make opening arguments Monday morning, and the government is scheduled to begin presenting witnesses in the afternoon.
Three witnesses are scheduled for Monday: Two special agents with the Army Criminal Investigative Division and Manning's roommate at Forward Operating Base Hammer in Iraq.
The roommate testified during a preliminary hearing in December 2011 that Manning "probably planned on getting out of the military."
Spec. Eric S. Baker said Manning had told him the Army "wasn't for him." He also said Manning used a computer "quite often."
"When I'd wake up in the middle of the night, he'd be on the computer," Baker said.
In cross-examination, Baker acknowledged to Manning's attorney that the two weren't friends. Baker affirmed that Manning had made statements that led him to believe he was gay, and Baker responded that it would be best if they didn't talk.
Outside the main gate to Fort Meade on Route 175 in Odenton Monday morning, a few dozen Manning supporters held signs reading "Free Brad" and other messages.
On the base, in the parking lot to the media center, stood a white box truck emblazoned "WikiLeaks Mobile Information Collection Unit" and "Release Bradley Manning."
Officials from the Military District of Washington, which is convening the court-martial, say they received more than 350 requests from news organizations for credentials to cover the proceedings. The district has made 10 seats in the courtroom and 70 seats in the media center available to reporters from around the world.
For planning purposes, officials have told reporters the trial could last 12 weeks.
The opening Monday follows more than 18 months of pretrial hearings. In February, Manning told the military judge presiding over his case that he wanted to provoke a public debate over U.S. foreign and military policy.
When WikiLeaks and several news organizations began publishing the materials in 2010, government officials said the candid political assessments and battlefield information they contained would compromise U.S. diplomacy and put American and other lives at risk.
Manning's attorneys say the release endangered no one. Damage assessments the government performed after the leak remain classified, and prosecutors have argued to keep them out of the court-martial.
Manning lived with an aunt in Potomac and studied at Montgomery College before he enlisted in the Army in 2007.
He was arrested in Baghdad in May 2010 after a hacker to whom he had described the leak went to the FBI. He was brought back to the United States, where he has been held since the arrest.
He pleaded guilty in February to several lesser charges related to leaking the material, for which he now faces up to 20 years in prison. He reaffirmed those pleas Monday to Army Col. Denise Lind, the judge presiding over his court-martial.
Manning has become a hero to some anti-war activists, who say footage of the 2007 Apache helicopter attack appears to show evidence of a war crime.
The attack in Baghdad left 12 dead, including a Reuters journalist and his driver. In the video, released by WikiLeaks under the title "Collateral Murder," the American helicopter crew can be heard laughing and referring to Iraqis as "dead bastards."
Supporters say Manning deserves some credit for fueling the Arab Spring, the wave of popular revolts that toppled authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, has roiled Syria and unsettled governments elsewhere.
On Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators marched on Fort Meade, chanting "Free Bradley Manning" and wielding signs that read "my hero" and "Americans have the right to know" to show their support.
In hearings, Manning's lawyers have sought to portray the diminutive soldier as a troubled young man who struggled with gender identity disorder, was isolated from his fellow service members and should not have been given access to the classified materials.
The materials released by WikiLeaks included field reports from Afghanistan with details of previously unreported civilian deaths and evidence of Pakistani and Iranian support of the Taliban and field reports from Iraq with details of previously unreported civilian deaths and reports of abuse, torture, rape and murder by Iraqi security forces.
Also released were diplomatic cables sent from embassies, consulates and other U.S. missions to the State Department between 1966 and 2010 containing analyses and assessments of foreign leaders and governments and economic and political conditions.
Manning's supporters say he should be protected as a whistleblower.
matthew.brown@baltsun.com
twitter.com/matthewhaybrown
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar...#ixzz2VAWU0uiV
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