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Friday, December 23rd, 2011

Bradley Manning Hearing Ends With no Clear Sign of Harm Done to U.S.

Author:     NANCY A. YOUSSEF
Source:     McClatchy Newspapers
Publication Date:     http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/12/22/133877/seriousness-of-wikileaks-suspect.html
 Link: Bradley Manning Hearing Ends With no Clear Sign of Harm Done to U.S.
Stephan:   The Manning case represents the post 9/11 version of justice in the U.S., and shows what endless detention and military courts really represent. So far as I can see, the case is a study in vindictiveness. This naive young gay man whose motives appear to have been mostly to help his country, and who should have been punished at a the command level, is being persecuted principally because he embarrassed a whole structure of security and these people are determined to ruin his life. The vile treatment to which he was subjected, until there was a great outcry, is an example of this

FORT MEADE, Md. - After seven days of testimony and the submission of more than 300,000 pages of documents, a key question remains unanswered in the case against Army Pfc. Bradley Manning:

How exactly did his leak of hundreds of thousands of secret documents, logs and at least one video - which he passed to WikiLeaks - directly harm U.S. national security?

It’s a near-certainty that Manning, whose pretrial Article 32 hearing concluded Thursday, will next face a court-martial, but experts say that it’s unclear whether the government will be able to prove its most serious charge against the former Army intelligence analyst - that he aided the enemy. A conviction on that charge could send Manning, 24, to prison for life.

‘Whether or not he did (illegally download and distribute classified documents) is a factual thing. Whether he undermined national security is a judgment thing,’ explained John Hutson, a former military judge advocate.

Prosecutors at the Article 32 hearing - the military equivalent of an evidentiary hearing - only had to show a ‘reasonable belief’ that Manning committed a crime; if the case proceeds to a court martial, the prosecution must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt for conviction.

In a court martial, […]

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