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| In Closing Argument, Prosecutor Casts Soldier as ‘Anarchist’ for Leaking Archives | In Closing Argument, Prosecutor Casts Soldier as ‘Anarchist’ for Leaking Archives |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| FORT MEADE, Md. — A military prosecutor portrayed Pfc. Bradley Manning on Thursday as an “anarchist” who, seeking to “make a splash,” betrayed the United States’ trust when he leaked vast archives of secret documents to WikiLeaks, lifting a veil on American diplomatic and military activities. | FORT MEADE, Md. — A military prosecutor portrayed Pfc. Bradley Manning on Thursday as an “anarchist” who, seeking to “make a splash,” betrayed the United States’ trust when he leaked vast archives of secret documents to WikiLeaks, lifting a veil on American diplomatic and military activities. |
| As closing arguments began in the high profile court-martial trial, the prosecutor, Maj. Ashden Fein, focused squarely on the most contentious charge that Private Manning is facing: that by giving the information to WikiLeaks for publication on a Web site that the world could see, he is guilty of “aiding the enemy.” | As closing arguments began in the high profile court-martial trial, the prosecutor, Maj. Ashden Fein, focused squarely on the most contentious charge that Private Manning is facing: that by giving the information to WikiLeaks for publication on a Web site that the world could see, he is guilty of “aiding the enemy.” |
| That charge has never been brought in a leak case, and the theory behind it could establish a precedent with implications for investigative journalism in the Internet era. But Major Fein said it was justified in Private Manning’s case. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence. | That charge has never been brought in a leak case, and the theory behind it could establish a precedent with implications for investigative journalism in the Internet era. But Major Fein said it was justified in Private Manning’s case. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence. |
| “Pfc. Manning was not a humanist; he was a hacker,” Major Fein said, adding: “He was not a whistle-blower. He was a traitor, a traitor who understood the value of compromised information in the hands of the enemy and took deliberate steps to ensure that they, along with the world, received it.” | “Pfc. Manning was not a humanist; he was a hacker,” Major Fein said, adding: “He was not a whistle-blower. He was a traitor, a traitor who understood the value of compromised information in the hands of the enemy and took deliberate steps to ensure that they, along with the world, received it.” |
| Private Manning’s defense lawyer, David E. Coombs, has portrayed him as a well-intentioned and principled, if naïve, protester who was motivated by a desire to help society better understand the world, who wanted to prompt a national debate and who was selective about which databases he released to avoid causing harm. Mr. Coombs is set to deliver his closing arguments on Friday. | Private Manning’s defense lawyer, David E. Coombs, has portrayed him as a well-intentioned and principled, if naïve, protester who was motivated by a desire to help society better understand the world, who wanted to prompt a national debate and who was selective about which databases he released to avoid causing harm. Mr. Coombs is set to deliver his closing arguments on Friday. |
| While Major Fein made his arguments, reporters watched the trial on a closed-circuit feed at the media center. Two military police officers in camouflage fatigues and armed with holstered handguns paced behind each row there, looking over the journalists’ shoulders, which had not happened during the trial. No explanation was given. | |
| Major Fein spoke from late morning until nearly 6 p.m., going over each batch of documents in detail and repeatedly returning to the theme of what he said was Private Manning’s recklessness and betrayal. | Major Fein spoke from late morning until nearly 6 p.m., going over each batch of documents in detail and repeatedly returning to the theme of what he said was Private Manning’s recklessness and betrayal. |
| He argued that Private Manning’s “wholesale and indiscriminate compromise of hundreds of thousands of classified documents” for release in bulk by the WikiLeaks staff, whom he called “essentially information anarchists,” should not be portrayed as an ordinary journalistic leak but as a bid for “notoriety, although in a clandestine form.” | He argued that Private Manning’s “wholesale and indiscriminate compromise of hundreds of thousands of classified documents” for release in bulk by the WikiLeaks staff, whom he called “essentially information anarchists,” should not be portrayed as an ordinary journalistic leak but as a bid for “notoriety, although in a clandestine form.” |
| Leaking to “established journalistic enterprises like The New York Times and The Washington Post would be a crime,” Major Fein said, but “that is not what happened in this case and under these facts.” | Leaking to “established journalistic enterprises like The New York Times and The Washington Post would be a crime,” Major Fein said, but “that is not what happened in this case and under these facts.” |
| He added, “WikiLeaks was merely the platform which Pfc. Manning used to ensure that all of the information was available to the world, including the enemies of the United States.” | He added, “WikiLeaks was merely the platform which Pfc. Manning used to ensure that all of the information was available to the world, including the enemies of the United States.” |
| Some of the files given to WikiLeaks by Private Manning, he emphasized, were found in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and showed up in a Qaeda propaganda video. | Some of the files given to WikiLeaks by Private Manning, he emphasized, were found in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and showed up in a Qaeda propaganda video. |
| Private Manning has already pleaded guilty to a lesser version of the charges he is facing. He has also confessed to providing WikiLeaks with two videos of airstrikes in which civilians and journalists were killed; files about detainees’ being held without trial at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; hundreds of thousands of incident reports from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; and about 250,000 diplomatic cables. | Private Manning has already pleaded guilty to a lesser version of the charges he is facing. He has also confessed to providing WikiLeaks with two videos of airstrikes in which civilians and journalists were killed; files about detainees’ being held without trial at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; hundreds of thousands of incident reports from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; and about 250,000 diplomatic cables. |
| Given the volume of the documents Private Manning released, Major Fein said, “there is no way he even knew what he was giving WikiLeaks.” | Given the volume of the documents Private Manning released, Major Fein said, “there is no way he even knew what he was giving WikiLeaks.” |
| Major Fein focused on Private Manning’s training, when he was warned to avoid posting secret information on the Internet, and zeroed in on one of the few factual disputes in the case: the date Private Manning downloaded and leaked an encrypted video of a botched airstrike in Afghanistan that killed 100 to 150 civilians, many of them women and children. | Major Fein focused on Private Manning’s training, when he was warned to avoid posting secret information on the Internet, and zeroed in on one of the few factual disputes in the case: the date Private Manning downloaded and leaked an encrypted video of a botched airstrike in Afghanistan that killed 100 to 150 civilians, many of them women and children. |
| Private Manning contends he did so in the spring of 2010. Major Fein argued that a variety of circumstantial evidence indicated that Private Manning instead downloaded it in late November 2009, less than two weeks after he arrived in Iraq. | Private Manning contends he did so in the spring of 2010. Major Fein argued that a variety of circumstantial evidence indicated that Private Manning instead downloaded it in late November 2009, less than two weeks after he arrived in Iraq. |
| The timing is important because it speaks to the dueling portrayals of Private Manning. The prosecution wants to show that he immediately seized upon his opportunity to release classified information through WikiLeaks, but the defense has argued that he only gradually decided to do so after seeing things that troubled him. | The timing is important because it speaks to the dueling portrayals of Private Manning. The prosecution wants to show that he immediately seized upon his opportunity to release classified information through WikiLeaks, but the defense has argued that he only gradually decided to do so after seeing things that troubled him. |
| Similarly, Major Fein pointed to evidence that he said showed that Private Manning was also responsible for leaking a rare file he has denied disclosing, a list of 74,000 names and e-mail addresses of soldiers and civilians deployed in Iraq. That dispute is important because the accusation could undercut Private Manning’s portrayal of himself as selecting only information that could inspire socially valuable debate. | Similarly, Major Fein pointed to evidence that he said showed that Private Manning was also responsible for leaking a rare file he has denied disclosing, a list of 74,000 names and e-mail addresses of soldiers and civilians deployed in Iraq. That dispute is important because the accusation could undercut Private Manning’s portrayal of himself as selecting only information that could inspire socially valuable debate. |
| Major Fein also focused on Private Manning’s chats with Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks leader, based on logs recovered from his computer that have not been made public. At one point, he said, Mr. Assange offered to get Private Manning an encrypted cellphone to use in Iraq. At another, Private Manning sought Mr. Assange’s help in cracking an encrypted password for an anonymous account on his classified computer, but the joint effort failed, Major Fein said. | Major Fein also focused on Private Manning’s chats with Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks leader, based on logs recovered from his computer that have not been made public. At one point, he said, Mr. Assange offered to get Private Manning an encrypted cellphone to use in Iraq. At another, Private Manning sought Mr. Assange’s help in cracking an encrypted password for an anonymous account on his classified computer, but the joint effort failed, Major Fein said. |