Military Justice and The Bradley Manning Verdict

A U.S. military court-martial has convicted Intelligence Analyst, Army Private Bradley Manning, on charges of espionage "...for leaking U.S. secrets to WikiLeaks, but found him not guilty of a more serious charge of aiding the enemy, a charge that could have carried a life prison sentence..." According to the "Voice Of America:"

"...Manning faced a total of 21 criminal charges in connection with his release of more than 700,000 U.S. documents to the anti-secrecy website. The documents included secret diplomatic cables and classified military reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan..."

Reportedly, the defense argued that Manning did not know that the information he leaked, would have wound up in the hands of "the enemy," and he was therefore acquitted of the principal charge, which could have given him the death penalty.

The verdict is the verdict, but I would be remiss if I did not point out that Bradley Manning was an intelligence analyst.  Not only does such a position require extensive security clearances, there are training requisites which require a person in that position to get extensive training on security matters, especially in the handling and processing of intelligence data. A foot soldier that is deployed is cautioned via briefings of "Operational Security (OPSEC) about not disclosing any information to families and relatives about deployment locations, destinations, mission purposes, etc.

It is highly unlikely that Manning was spared any training in security matters, given the access he had to intelligence information, so it is at the very least perplexing that he would be acquitted of the charge of "aiding the enemy."

Realistically he could not have convincingly invoked being ignorant of the fact that the information he disclosed might possibly wind up in the hands of U.S. enemies. But that is precisely what he did, and the Judge apparently bought it.