Bradley Manning-WikiLeaks Connection Not Found: Military Investigators

U.S. military investigators have been unable to find a direct link between jailed Army PFC Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks, reports NBC News.

However, the alleged source of the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables did download files illegally maintain military investigators. Reports NBC:

The officials say that while investigators have determined that Manning had allegedly unlawfully downloaded tens of thousands of documents onto his own computer and passed them to an unauthorized person, there is apparently no evidence he passed the files directly to Assange, or had any direct contact with the controversial WikiLeaks figure.

WikiLeaks founder Assange has repeatedly stated that he had no contact with Manning prior to "reading his name in a magazine." WikiLeaks has, however, provided $15,000 towards Manning's legal fees, and Assange has referred to him as a "political prisoner."

Manning has been in the media spotlight recently as stories of his prison conditions have emerged. He is currently being held at the Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, in solitary confinement. The military has strongly denied that Manning's detention conditions are punitive or "torture," as has been alleged.

Comments

[bethyself]

08:18 PM on 01/28/2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2011/jan/24/bradley-manning-wikileaks-quantico-petition

I read huff daily. Did I miss this?

[martinchill]

04:11 PM on 01/27/2011

this thread has a virus. my last post is in my list of comments on my profile, but it ain't here. it was not being 'held for moderation' either.

[martinchill]

04:11 PM on 01/27/2011

nvrmnd.

[ChasG]

04:34 PM on 01/27/2011

welcome to HuffPost "inconsistent" moderation and software.
 
:-)
 
How many times I have spent carefully editing my comments before I post them, only to discover the sometimes when using the arrow key to move through my comment to make a spelling correction or whatever, the arrow key obliterates my comment before it posts and randomly sends me to another blog.  Very frustrating software.

[martinchill]

04:05 PM on 01/27/2011

courtesty of ChasG -

COMPUTER EVIDENCE TIES LEAKS TO SOLDIER
By JULIAN E. BARNES, MIGUEL BUSTILLO and CHRISTOPHE­R RHOADS
WALL STREET JOURNAL

(not sure the all caps were necessary, but anyway)

~~

i expect manning to be as severely punished as was everyone connected to the outing of Valerie Plame, which is known to have caused fatalities. considering he's already done eight months in a single cell - i guess everyone connected to the Plame case should pay him a lot of money.

[ChasG]

04:30 PM on 01/27/2011

I'd love it if you could provide links to independently verifiable sources that the Plame/Wilson case caused fatalities.  That would make for a compelling case against the Bush administration, which I'd love to see happen.

[martinchill]

07:58 PM on 01/27/2011

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4033247

lol

[lthuedk 1]

11:17 AM on 01/28/2011

The advancement of the PNAC required removing any and all security obstructions-entities that would interfere with Neo Con plans for world domination. That includes an estimated 1.0 million dead people-all innocent of charges.

Both the NIE and Plame (Brewster Jennings) reports were either eliminated or hidden from view to advance the invasion.

One million people or one person. It matters little. Murder happened *because* Plame was outed.

Second, the extent of internal damage was extensive enough to put Fitzgerald on the case. You and I will never know how many officers, spies and others were killed by Cheney's outing of Plame. But we do know how many were estimated to have died as a DIRECT result of eliminating any anti-PNAC reports at the time.

The PNAC was a success. *One million died*. The invasion was based on lies which required the silencing of Brewster Jennings and the delay of the NIE.

Where would you like the death certificates sent?

[mikesw]

03:37 PM on 01/27/2011

Even Fox News' Judge Napolitano is calling the conditions of Mannings detention KGB-like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTnNRzROVzw&feature=player_embedded

[mikesw]

03:28 PM on 01/27/2011

Manning's lawyer, former soldier says: PFC Bradley Manning Is Not Being Treated Like Every Other Detainee

http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/2011/01/pfc-bradley-manning-is-not-being.html

[mikesw]

03:23 PM on 01/27/2011

"In one fell swoop, the candor of the cables released by WikiLeaks did more for Arab democracy than decades of backstage U.S. diplomacy."

Now quick! Let's punish Wikileaks for this!

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/01/25/whispering_at_autocrats?page=0,2

[ChasG]

03:29 PM on 01/27/2011

It's not clear what role Wikileaks actually played in Tunisia and elsewhere in the Arab world, nor is it yet clear what will emerge from those countries.
 
But as Mahatma Ghandi famously summed up, "All tyrants fall."

[martinchill]

04:14 PM on 01/27/2011

truth is, our country is so dirty now that the only solution left is complete collapse. our fine 'leaders' have dug holes so deep that we can now just reach through them and get handfuls of cash straight from China.

[mikesw]

03:19 PM on 01/27/2011

Marines Replace Commander in Charge of Detention of Bradley Manning, Accused WikiLeaker

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20029688-503543.html

[ChasG]

03:36 PM on 01/27/2011

Thanks for the link.  Here are some important excerpts:
 
"A base spokesman claims the complaint and Averhart's removal are not related, and that the decision to replace Averhart was made back in October, CNN reports."  Maybe so, maybe not.
 
"Because Manning is being held under such harsh conditions without having been charged, Coombs has tried all manner of legal recourse, including filing a motion for Manning's release, a motion to dismiss the trial because of its slow start, and even a request for a speedy trial last week."  WOW!  This has to be embarassing to CBS, some really bad fact reporting, because Manning was charged a long time ago with eight separate counts.  Saying he is being held "without having been charged" is factually incorrect, and I have emailed CBS to alert them to that fact.
 
 

[mikesw]

03:44 PM on 01/27/2011

Here's Coombs' motion to dismiss.

http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/2011/01/motion-to-dismiss-for-lack-of-speedy.html

Note that Rule for Court-Martial (R.C.M.) 707 provides that charges against an accused must be dismissed if they are not brought to trial within 120 days of the earlier of preferral, pretrial confinement, or recall to active duty under R.C.M. 204.

Manning has been in solitary or isolated pretrial confinement for over 200 days.

[ChasG]

02:20 PM on 01/27/2011

From CBS news
 
[More at: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20011886-503543.html ]
 
My original post of excerpts was deleted as a violation of HuffPost’s guidelines (???)  What gives?  There was no violation of HP guidelines in my post.  The deletion of my post was an abuse.  I respectfully request that moderator permanently stripped of the ability to delete posts for abuse of that privilege.
 
The CBS article is relevant to the nature of Manning's and Assange's culpability, and the real consequences of these leaks.  This material is appropriate for discussion on this thread, which is now creeping to a halt.
 
The article says, in spite of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's claim that sensitive information had been removed from the leaked documents, that reporters scanning the reports for just a couple hours found hundreds of Afghan names mentioned as aiding the U.S.-led war effort.
 
One specific example cited by the paper is a report on an interview conducted by military officers of a potential Taliban defector. The militant is named, along with his father and the village in which they live.
 
From CBS news
 
[More at: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20011886-503543.html ]
 
My original post of excerpts was deleted as a violation of HuffPost’s guidelines (???)  What gives?  There was no violation of HP guidelines in my post.  The deletion of my post was an abuse.  I respectfully request that moderator permanently stripped of the ability to delete posts for abuse of that privilege.
 
The CBS article is relevant to the nature of Manning's and Assange's culpability, and the real consequences of these leaks.  This material is appropriate for discussion on this thread, which is now creeping to a halt.
 
The article says, in spite of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's claim that sensitive information had been removed from the leaked documents, that reporters scanning the reports for just a couple hours found hundreds of Afghan names mentioned as aiding the U.S.-led war effort.
 
One specific example cited by the paper is a report on an interview conducted by military officers of a potential Taliban defector. The militant is named, along with his father and the village in which they live. 
 
I invite you to read the CBS article for which I have provided the link above.

[ChasG]

02:24 PM on 01/27/2011

How did that happen?  Two separate posts, one which was truncated (see directly below), and the other posted separately to try to get the truncated material to post, and somehow my two separate (and substantially redundant) posts become a single post.  What is happening with either HuffPost moderation or HuffPost software, I have no idea, but it's pretty flakey.

[martinchill]

04:07 PM on 01/27/2011

clicking on reply to any comments in my sidebar never works.

[mikesw]

03:06 PM on 01/27/2011

This happens to everybody. Stop being a crybaby.

[ChasG]

03:16 PM on 01/27/2011

Really?  LOL !

[ChasG]

02:16 PM on 01/27/2011

The article says, in spite of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's claim that sensitive information had been removed from the leaked documents, that reporters scanning the reports for just a couple hours found hundreds of Afghan names mentioned as aiding the U.S.-led war effort.
 
One specific example cited by the paper is a report on an interview conducted by military officers of a potential Taliban defector. The militant is named, along with his father and the village in which they live.
 
I invite you to read the CBS article for which I have provided the link.

[ChasG]

02:18 PM on 01/27/2011

What happened?  Half my post is missing.  Let me try again.

[mikesw]

03:08 PM on 01/27/2011

I have responded to this false statement below. I am waiting for a response to my question of whether there has been a single documented case of someone being harmed as a result of the Afghan War logs' publication, released 6 months ago. I'd be interested in an answer.

[ChasG]

03:22 PM on 01/27/2011

We won't hear about such events, and it does not matter whether or not people are actually harmed.  I would expect the military to notify everyone who's life may have been endangered, and I would expect the military to offer them safe haven.  Reckless endangerment cannot be justified based upon the harm not occurring. 
 
Were Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson harmed by being outed by the Bush administration.  If not, does that make outing them okay?

[ChasG]

04:41 PM on 01/27/2011

By the way, if there are false "facts" in the CBS article, please by all means expose them.  I have found CBS online to be not fully reliable with facts, so I welcome any factual corrections that can themselves be independently verified.  Wherever the facts lead, that's where I will go to form my own opinions.

[ChasG]

01:25 PM on 01/27/2011

Excerpted from Wall Street Journal Online, JULY 30, 2010
 
COMPUTER EVIDENCE TIES LEAKS TO SOLDIER
 
By JULIAN E. BARNES, MIGUEL BUSTILLO and CHRISTOPHER RHOADS
 
Investigators have found concrete evidence on computers used by Pfc. Bradley Manning that link him with the leak of classified Afghanistan war reports, a U.S. defense official said.
 
The disclosure came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledged Thursday to "aggressively investigate the leak" and find ways to prevent further breaches, and told reporters that he had invited the Federal Bureau of Investigation to assist the probe.
 
Defense officials said the FBI was investigating whether civilians aided Pfc. Manning in providing the information to WikiLeaks, a Web-based group that this week released 76,000 secret reports from Afghanistan.
 
Pfc. Manning already was charged by the military in July with illegally taking secret State Department files and disseminating a classified video, which defense officials said was the one released by WikiLeaks showing a U.S. military helicopter firing on a group of people in Baghdad. Two Reuters journalists and seven others were killed in the 2007 incident.
 
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Afghan leaks could cause extensive damage to the allied mission. Meanwhile, investigators have found evidence linking Pfc. Bradley Manning to the leaks, according to a defense official.
Hundreds of Afghan civilians who worked as informants for the U.S. military have been put at risk by WikiLeaks' publication of more than 90,000 classified intelligence reports which name and in many cases locate the individuals, The Times newspaper reported Wednesday.
 
Click here to see. The Times article, but note, it's behind a subscription firewall
The article says, in spite of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's claim that sensitive information had been removed from the leaked documents, that reporters scanning the reports for just a couple hours found hundreds of Afghan names mentioned as aiding the U.S.-led war effort.
 
[more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704532204575397141587756232.html ]

[mikesw]

03:17 PM on 01/27/2011

My response to this misleading and factually erroneous post was also removed. Did you see it before it was?

[ChasG]

04:50 PM on 01/27/2011

No I did not see it.  But I share your frustrations with HP.  I'm sure they are reading our comments about software and inappropriate deletions, and I hope they fix both problems.
 
Some commenters who are not in HP's employ but have earned the right badges gain the ability to delete comments, and some abuse that privilege.  As a consequence, I copy all my posts that contain facts and links so that I don't lose the hours of work it sometimes takes to locate the independently verifiable sources.
 
Sometimes re-posting a deleted comment at a different time of day will enable the comment to remain visible.  But it is very disruptive to constructive discussion and exchange of ideas when comments can be deleted by HuffPost users who merely disagree with the point of view, or perhaps moderators who have not been adequately trained.
 
I was a chat room moderator (TCC) for Talk City years ago, and it was much easier to interact with moderators and for users to see which moderator was deleting what, because moderators were part of the discussion thread.  Also, it was much easier to appeal the actions of a moderator to a Talk City person who could moderate the moderators in real time.  It was a much less frustrating experience that posting comments the way it's done now, with anonymous and totally inaccessible moderating.

[ChasG]

01:23 PM on 01/27/2011

Last night I located links to two articles, one from the Wall Street Journal, quoting defense department sources that incriminating evidence had been found on Manning's computer, showing he had, in fact, illegally downloaded the material that was then published by Wikileaks.  This morning I find the two posts I made were deleted for violations of HuffPost guidelines.  What kind of malicious monitoring is this?  And how does one report it to HuffPost?  All I did was spend a few hours of my time digging for independently verifiable sources of the information that the government has hard evidence against Manning, I find it, I post it, and that's a violation of HuffPost guidelines?  I don't think so.  I thihnk someone is abusing their privilege to delete posts, and I know HuffPost is capable of identifying who that person is and withdrawing that person's ability to delete posts.
 
Angry?  You bet I am!  Someone doesn't want the truth to interfere with the propaganda.

[mikesw]

03:18 PM on 01/27/2011

My responses to your misleading posts were also deleted. Stop playing the victim. This happens to everyone here.

[mikesw]

12:32 AM on 01/27/2011

Tunisia's corrupt government has collapsed, partially because of WikiLeaks it appears.

http://www.businessinsider.com/tunisia-wikileaks-2011-1

I guess Wikileaks is dangerous...for corrupt, authoritarian regimes!

[nfatt1]

11:08 PM on 01/26/2011

The Rouges Disguise, point the finger at someone else and they won't look at you.

[nfatt1]

11:03 PM on 01/26/2011

Guilty till proven innocent !

[ChasG]

11:04 PM on 01/26/2011

Definitely not !

[DebbyM]

11:06 PM on 01/26/2011

Sure hope you get picked up by the cops for something.

[mikesw]

12:21 AM on 01/27/2011

Hi Chaz,
That story was issued after the release of the Afghan war logs last July. So far there is not a single known case of such a revenge killing. If you can find one, I'd be interested. Even Gates has said that such claims of danger have been "overwrought". Check out what a former CIA analyst says about this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM_IdfPPmEY

Despite apparently known harm having come from their Afghan leaks, Wikileaks no longer releases documents like that. The Cablegate materials are all being reviewed document-by-document first by some of the world's most famous newspapers.

Hope this clears things up for you.

[ChasG]

01:57 PM on 01/27/2011

I watched the video, and it provides no additional facts.  The comments made on that YouTube by Ray McGovern actually support the claim that the leaks endanger lives.  McGovern, a member of a group of former CIA employees who are praising Assange for leaking classified documents, said the claims that "lives have been put in danger" is a "canard" or a "red herring."   He then goes on to say "The only lives that have been put in danger are the troops we sent over to Iraq and Afghanistan under false pretenses."
 
I know what he was trying to say, and I agree that sending troops to Iraq was dopne under false pretenses, but I disagree with that statement about Afghanistan.  Furthermore, this man's statements do nothing to exonerate either Manning or Assange for what they have done.
 
Exposing military secrets is not ipso facto "journalism" as McGovern posits.  Lives have been put in danger.
 
Why did HuffPost delete my comment that you are responding to?  What's with that?