Report: Evidence Links Manning to WikiLeaks

(CBS)  Investigators said they have evidence linking Army intelligence analyst Spc. Bradley Manning to the WikiLeaks release of massive amounts of Afghanistan war logs, The Wall Street Journal ($) reported Thursday.

A defense official told the newspaper the authorities searched computers used by Manning, which had left evidence that he had downloaded the documents that provide a look at U.S. combat and frustrations in the war in Afghanistan - 76,000 of which were posted on WikiLeaks.org Sunday night, while 15,000 are being vetted by the group for future release.

Manning, 22, is the man charged earlier this month of illegally giving WikiLeaks a classified video showing a U.S. military helicopter firing on a group of people in Baghdad. Two Reuters journalists and seven others were killed in the incident.

Manning worked in the intelligence operations of the 2nd Brigade in Baghdad. He was supposed to be examining intelligence relevant to Iraq, but defense officials said he was using his "Top Secret/SCI" clearance to download classified documents.

More on Bradley Manning:

Alleged Army Whistleblower Felt "Isolated"
Detained U.S. Soldier Tied to WikiLeaks Video

Suspicions have been on Manning ever since the Afghanistan logs were published Sunday. He is being detained in Kuwait, charged with "mishandling and leaking classified data." He was caught bragging about leaking the Iraq video on an internet chat. The chats also revealed Manning's frustrations at being "regularly ignored" at work.

"I've been isolated so long," he wrote. "I just wanted to be nice, and live a normal life ... but events kept forcing me to figure out ways to survive."

If convicted, Manning could be sentenced to a maximum 52 years in prison.

A U.S. official had earlier said everything he had seen on WikiLeaks could have been obtained by surfing a Defense Department intranet system known as the "SIPRNet," or Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, which Manning had access to.

It is not immediately clear the exact nature of the evidence linking Manning to the documents. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department have been brought in to aid the probe, which is lead by the Army Criminal Investigation Command.

More WikiLeaks Coverage:

WikiLeaks: We Don't Know Who Leaked Documents
Holder: DOJ Aiding Pentagon WikiLeaks Probe
WikiLeaks Puts Afghan Agents at Risk, U.S. Says
WikiLeaks Unlikely to Change Afghan War's Course
Obama: Nothing New in WikiLeaks Documents
Pentagon: "Very Robust" Probe of WikiLeak Source
Leaked Docs Expose Afghan Failings, Plague Military

[roach9703]

Manning is a bright guy bragging about his stealing secrets on the internet.
He should be hung for stupidity if nothing else.

[msjb1]

why don't we just hang him over there where he loves the people so much good place for him he would make good food for the birds hanging out under a tree

[babooph]

With the better part of a million people with these "clearances"& massive info being restricted,this type of stuff will likely go on-the old centrally controlled info system,would have buried it,but the computer days opened some doors...

[us_1776]

Full courts-martial and 20 years in Levenworth.



.

[wyodutch]

the American military is fast approaching the same high level of integrity and common-sense that the rest of the federal government exhibits.

[wyodutch]

Let's shoot him! The military acquits troops who execute unarmed prisoners, but we can't allow heinous crimes like airing our dirty laundry to go unpunished. Hoooooaaaahhh!
.
Flashback - May 2, 2008: FORT HOOD -- A military jury Thursday acquitted an Army sergeant (Trevino) of premeditated murder in the death of an unarmed Iraqi insurgent. A medic testified that Trevino ordered him to suffocate the Iraqi (already shot 12 times and with broken bones) and that when he told his sergeant that the man was still alive, Trevino shot the Iraqi fatally. In March, Spc. John Torres, the Army medic accused of trying to suffocate the insurgent, was acquitted of attempted premeditated murder and dereliction of duty for failing to provide aid.
In another trial in March, Cpl. Justin Whiteman, accused of placing a pistol by the insurgent's body to hide the murder, was acquitted of accessory to attempted premeditated murder and with dereliction of duty.
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Flashback - January 24, 2006: FORT CARSON, Colorado - A military jury of six officers on Monday acquited an officer once facing up to life in prison for the death of an Iraqi general during an interrogation session. Welshofer, 43, stuffed a captured, unarmed Iraqi general headfirst into a sleeping bag, holding his hand over the general's mouth and sitting on his chest.

[dpattan]

This guy needs to " go away" I can't believe he would do something this stupid, "they ignored him."

[thy-only_king]

Report: Evidence Links Manning to WikiLeaks

Where do you sign up to be on the Firing Squad ?

[Harden_Tar]

Dos the Army still shoot traitors? Dude is going to Leavenworth for a long time regardless.

[wyodutch]

Why don't you enlist and find out?

[Mortar_29]

52 years? Sounds good!