Army: Soldier who leaked documents aided al-Qaida

[midnight]

Source: Associated Press

By JESSICA GRESKO | Associated Press – 2 hrs 21 mins ago

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning's civilian attorney David Coombs arrives at a courthouse …
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — An Army private aided al-Qaida by leaking hundreds of thousands of military and other government documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, the military said Thursday.
Pfc. Bradley Manning had previously been charged with aiding the enemy among a total of 22 counts, but on Thursday the military identified the enemy Manning's actions aided. Manning and his attorneys are appearing at a hearing at a military courtroom at Fort Meade, near Baltimore, for two days of hearings in the case.
During Thursday morning's hearing the military judge in the case announced military prosecutors' answers to a series of questions about the accusations against Manning. The judge, Col. Denise Lind, said the government contends Manning indirectly aided al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula by giving information to the WikiLeaks site.
Military prosecutors say Manning, a 24-year-old Oklahoma native, downloaded and sent to WikiLeaks nearly half a million sensitive battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables, and a video of a deadly 2007 Army helicopter attack that WikiLeaks shared with the world and dubbed "Collateral Murder."


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/army-soldier-leaked-documents-aided-al-qaida-150818698.html

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Army aided al-Qaida's recruitment efforts by killing civilians in a country that hadn't harmed us

When are THEY going to be charged?

[Justice wanted]

6. [phone]! I honestly believe he was set up and they are trying to use this poor kid to

make a case for Assange. I can't believe the Swedish government is actually helping the U.S. with this. Broken condoms IS NOT RAPE! BUT watch He is turned over to Sweden who Immediately give Assange to the U.S.

[midnight]

12. I was thinking about this also...

[leftynyc]

10. Which country are you referring to?

The one who provided cover for al queda? The one who protected bin laden?

[sudopod]

11. He's talking about Iraq.

Or maybe Libya, or Pakistan, or Yemen. It's hard to keep track these days.

[leftynyc]

18. A distraction from this heinous

action is not helpful at all. It seems all Americans are entitled to the benefit of the doubt before getting convicted of a crime - except for the military. Interesting.

[sudopod]

20. wat? nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. You mean he embarrassed the US government.

[JDPriestly]

14. with the truth.

Was there anything in the Wikileaks releases that people in Afghanistan (including what is/was left of Al Qaeda) and Iraq (in which there never was a large enough Al Qaeda presence to matter) didn't already know?

I suspect not. There may be things in intelligence documents that could have informed Al Qaeda about things they did not know, but I don't think any of them were released to the public or to the news media.

[midnight]

3. Sunlight is always the best disinfectant' says defense

The first day:



Firedoglake reports:

Three motions will be discussed during the first day of what is expected to be a two-day hearing: a motion to compel discovery, a motion for a bill of particulars and a motion to compel depositions. [...]

A legal matter expert for the military says Lind will probably set a calendar all the way out that details what hearings will be held in the run-up to the trial, when the trial will begin and how long that trial might be expected to last. The expert also says the prosecution, defense and judge had a “pre-trial conference” this morning. Whatever business discussed will be shared on the record.

One motion—a publicity order—was already decided. This motion, also from the defense, requested that prospective “panel members” not read or view any media related to Manning’s case. The government did not oppose. Essentially, this protects the rights of Manning so that people, who may serve on the jury for Manning’s trial, do not develop too many pre-conceived notions about the case.

Additionally, a few media here were responsible for a letter submitted to the Defense Department requesting access to records during the court-martial proceedings. There has yet to be any action on this request, which basically calls upon the Defense Department to grant the press the same access to materials on the trial that they grant to the press during military commissions proceedings for Guantanamo detainees.http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/15-2

[Lint Head]

4. What a load of crap.

[midnight]

8. It sure is.... Did you read this part...

it would appear that Manning’s case calls upon us to wonder about the scale of government secrecy in this country. If we decide that the government bureaucracy is such a beast and that it will relentlessly work to keep important information secret (e.g. water contamination that can cause childhood cancers at Camp Lejeune), we then must consider that breaking the law as Manning is accused of doing—violating a military code—may have some justification in the end because of the good that the release can and in some cases has produced.http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/15-2


Some one made a beautiful banner at this link..... If anyone can post it-please do...

[Suji to Seoul]

5. al-Qaida has become a national boogey-man. Say "al-Qaida" and the American government still thinks

we will collectively shit our pants.

You people cried wolf once to often. Prove it. . .otherwise, I call bullshit, US Military.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. I call bulls***.

[TownDrunk2]

9. Oh please, I say paying taxes is aiding and abetting the enemy :)

[cstanleytech]

13. Manning may be guilty of giving documents to wikileaks (he hasnt been convicted afterall)

but I really dont buy the whole aiding al-Qaida claim and I personally believe they are tacking that on in order to try and get a wrongful conviction, thats just my opinion of course.

[EFerrari]

16. If they could show he aided AQ they would have been screaming it by now

instead of withdrawing the Pentagon's claim that he got people killed.

[IamK]

15. manning will be in prison for life... like it or not n/t

[jakeXT]

17. So did the US government in Libya and Syria n/t

[Judi Lynn]

19. Damned sad to see grown people acting like spiteful brats. n/t