Army expands probe into soldier suspected of earlier leak - CNN.com

I have no clue as to what Pfc. Bradley E. Manning's motivation was for leaking this horrific video, but it was courageous. He is an American Hero. GI

Washington (CNN) -- In the wake of the leak of thousands of classified documents, the U.S. Army has expanded its criminal investigation into a soldier allegedly involved in the earlier leak of a combat video and thousands of military documents, according to the Pentagon. The expanded investigation was confirmed by Col. David Lapan at the Pentagon.

According to a U.S. military official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk about the investigation, the probe by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division into Pfc. Bradley E. Manning was expanded to look at potential accomplices and what military or U.S. government systems the information came from. CNN was unable to reach Manning's attorney.
The leak of documents published by the website WikiLeaks.org is a "very big breach," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said on Monday.

"Look, there's a slew of people who have access. It will be, as all these investigations are, very difficult, but we are determined to find out who is responsible for this and to make sure they pay or are held accountable for it," Morrell said in an interview with CNN's John King. "This is a very big breach for which there must be consequences."

The investigation was expanded because investigators believe Manning has a connection to a number, but not all, of documents released on WikiLeaks.org on Sunday. The Army is also working with other U.S. agencies in the investigation, according to Army CID spokesman Christopher Grey.
Manning, 22, of Potomac, Maryland, was charged with eight violations of the U.S. Criminal Code for allegedly illegally transferring classified data, including an earlier video that wound up on WikiLeaks. He has been accused of "wrongfully introducing a classified video of a military operation filmed at or near Baghdad, Iraq" around July 12, 2007, "onto his personal computer, a non-secure information system."

Manning had top-secret clearance as an intelligence analyst with the Army while he was stationed in Iraq. He was detained in June and sent to the U.S. base in Kuwait for his connection to the release of the classified U.S. military combat video showing the shooting death of Iraqi civilians and two journalists in 2007 by a helicopter gunship.

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tags: war, iraq, wikileaks, military industrial complex, military occupation


Update #1- 7/30/2010: CNN reports that Manning was outed by hacker Adrian Lamo. Manning allegedly confessed to Lamo during instant message chats online. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Lamo said he isn't sure why Manning would have reached out to him on the Web. He theorizes that Manning might have seen the Wired profile and recognized a nerdy, kindred spirit.

According to Wired, the messenger suspected to be Manning introduces himself to Lamo by saying, "I'm an army intelligence analyst, deployed to eastern baghdad, pending discharge for 'adjustment disorder.' "

Manning allegedly goes on to say that he feels "isolated." His messages explain in detail his disillusionment with the way the U.S. was waging the Afghan war.

The person alleged to be Manning wrote to Lamo: "i dont believe in good guys versus bad guys anymore... i only a plethora of states acting in self interest... with varying ethics and moral standards of course, but self-interest nonetheless "

According to Wired, on May 22, Manning told Lamo that he had provided WikiLeaks with 260,000 classified State Department diplomatic cables.

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