Bradley Manning Verdict: Guilty Of WikiLeaks Espionage But Acquitted Of Aiding The Enemy
The Bradley Manning trial verdict found the WikiLeaks leakers guilty of espionage but not guilty of aiding the enemy.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Bradley Manning trial was expected to have a complicated verdict.
Before the trial began Bradley Manning released a personal statement that explains his actions and why he worked with WikiLeaks. Bradley Manning, who once served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq, admitted to leaking hundreds of thousands of United States military classified documents to WikiLeaks. The WikiLeaks documents included diplomatic cables, Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, complaints about Iraqi detainees, and gunsight video footage of a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack that killed civilians in Baghdad.
Bradley Manning denied from the start that he was attempting to aid the enemy and his defenders claimed he should be protected as a whistleblower. Bradley Manning essentially felt the world would be better if nations did not secretly make deals and pacts behind closed doors. The Arab Spring was supposedly helped by Bradley Manning according to his supporters.
Bradley Manning purposefully tried to focus on releasing information he believed was politically controversial and that might influence the American public’s opinion on US foreign policy. Edward Snowden even publicly said his motives were similar to Bradley Manning but he was more selective in what information he was released.
The prosecution in the Bradley Manning trial called him an attention seeker and a traitor. Some of the information released by Bradley Manning even found its way to Osama bin Laden. The Bradley Manning trial verdict still found him guilty of espionage, theft and computer fraud charges. Bradley Manning will face sentencing tomorrow, but since he’s not guilty of aiding the enemy at the most he won’t be sentenced to life in prison without parole. The charges Bradley Manning already plead guilty to have a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Do you think the Bradley Manning trial verdict was fair?
