[Updated at 11:46 a.m.] The U.S. military said Tuesday it is pressing criminal charges against Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, 22, for allegedly transferring classified data onto his personal computer and adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system.
Manning of Potomac, Maryland, is suspected of leaking a classified 2007 video of an Apache helicopter strike that killed 12 civilians in Baghdad, including two journalists from the Reuters wire service, the military said.
Manning was deployed with the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, in Baghdad, Iraq, according to the military.
According to Wired.com, Manning leaked the video to the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.com, which posted the video in April. Wired.com reported that Manning confessed to the leak in a series of online chats with a former computer hacker.
He allegedly owned up to leaking other items to WikiLeaks, including a classified Army document assessing the threat level of the website, according to the article, as well as State Department cables.
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Iraq has a curfew, if there was innocent civilians in the area or hanging out with terrorists, they were wrong and not to mention out past curfew. nighttime was one of the worst time to be out over there it's extremely difficult to see who is a threat and who isn't, if you through the is in with the isn't makes for even worse and that is just from a ground perspective, i can only imagine what it's like from the air. I am in total agreement these pilots were just doing what they needed to looking out for the guys on the ground, and as far as the humvee running over the body, humvve lights are horrible chances really are they did not see it.
As a soldier you follow orders or you get a court Marshall. You join the army to see the world and fight a war. If you join in times like this you are stupid to believe you are not going to be put into a situation were you need to fire your weapon. If you happen to come across a child with a ak-47 you going to shoot them, or let them shoot you. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not going to be put down by some kid. Now we know this is not the case in general but the point behind it supports this video. They saw what they saw. Who's to say that camera man was no recording another IED explosion. Or some other act of terrorism.
The other problem about this video is the call signs, and ways of communication. If they can find a way to get a radio, or some how follow our comms then we are compromised.... the soldier who leaked this video should be court marshaled and sent to Leavenworth. As a scout I would not want the enemy knowing my movements because of some leaked video they saw on the internet....
That helicopter gunner.. was soo gung ho... but then really got quiet.. after shooting 2 kids.. boy and a little girl. This guy learned his lesson... just so sad. I think some journalist should make this a news story.. FIND THE GIRL.. apparently the girl was not treated by local troops but dropped off at a local hospital. If someone were to work this up... it would cause quite a bit of embarassment. Also it seems to me odd that one can engage a civilian vehicle, collecting bodies. I mean who shoots at that....
Must be a new military. When I was an E-1 and E-2. I was not even aware that there was classified material, much less having access to it. This guy might be the chosen one to "hang-out-to-dry."
If there's any wonder as to why some countries around the world don't like the U.S., well maybe it's the same reason we don't like hearing about stories like this. Even we don't want to be like this.
The military is a place for mind-numbed robots.
What kind of life would you have with out our military. Perhaps you would rather live on the streets where this battle took place because with out our military that where you would be.
The first mistake was for these reporters to be with these guys with the RPG and rifles. The US fired on a group of men with weapons and are justified for the first encounter. The second mistake was for the US to fire on the van trying to pick up the wounded when there were no weapons identified. The 3rd mistake was for this soldier to release classified info. The reporters paid for their mistake with their life. The Apache crew should be charged in the second encounter and the soldier needs to be charged for releasing the video.
BP pays $20 Billion for its leak.... --wanna bet PFC Manning does hard time for his??? You need "balance" Danielson~
The RPG is not a camera unless cameras shoot rockets.
RPGs and AKs were found at the scene. You can see them in the video. Watch right around 1:06. Striped shirt guy has an AK and the guy next to him as he swings around has a RPG. WikiLeaks selectively edited this video. I wonder why they didn't point a little red arrow at what those two guys were carrying? Because they knew they were weapons but that would totally defeat the point of them leaking the video. I can't believe how stupid some of you people are. Wikileaks, just like any other news agency is going to bend truths so that people watch their channel. This truth has been bent so far it is a flat out lie. These people had weapons, in a no weapon zone, out after curfew, and in an area where ground troops had been engaged all day. All the while the dark colored van had been driving around picking up and dropping off enemy combatants and supplies. Ground troops were the ones who alerted the gunship of a dark colored van seen in the areas where they were engaged. Open your eyes little sheep.
The US military is above the law just like our politicians...or they think they are....and that raises a question: why is the US so arrogant and stupid?
Only three types of people over there: terrorist – women breading terrorist, and kids that are going to grow up to be terrorist, I say kill them all. And what’s wrong with killing a few liberal reporters? They’re not much better than the terrorist.
This just in: all personnel with the moniker "Uncle Sam" are known terrorists. Terminate, terminate...
should not have been leaked but fun to watch
Yes, any time there is a fight going on my first instinct is to grab my kids and join in the fight. It's not my fault, of course. I'm the powerless victim, incapable of making my own choices.
not the point, They clearly would not engage unless they were holding firearms, yet, they engage on a van picking up wounded? how is that a threat? would would we say about insurgents killing those picking up our wounded soldiers?. how about better video, to ensure what they see is actually what it is. Decisions are being made based off "facts", and I stress this word, from those who do not have the intelligence
Its like this honestly.... If you dont stand behind the troops. By all means stand in front of them.
Or even better, utter a cliche or two...