Manning Faces Court-Martial, Focus on Superiors Intensifies
The Army investigative officer in charge of the Bradley Manning preliminary hearing says there is enough evidence for accused Wikileaks conspirator Bradley Manning to face court-martial. Manning is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to Wikileaks, including classified documents, State Department cables, and a 2007 Army video of an Apache helicopter firing on civilians.
Evidence linking Manning to Wikileaks and it's founder, Julian Assange, including chat transcripts between Manning and Assange was enough for the investigative officer to allow a full court-martial in which Manning will face 22 counts, including aiding the enemy. More evidence will likely be available for the court-martial, as Twitter has been ordered to release account informaiton for three other Wikileaks supporters. One supporter, Icelandic Parliament Member Birgitta Jonsdottir, is scheduled to make an announcement on Friday that some speculate will be the release of her Twitter records.
The Manning case continues to raise questions about the level of security in place to protect sensitive U.S. Intelligence records. Apparently Manning had been identified as a risk within his first month of duty and assigned to a discharge unit for talking about his intelligence work in a YouTube video, has had a history of violent outbursts and questionable behavior, but was able to retain security clearance until his arrest in May of last year.
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