US Military Presses Charges Against Army Spc Bradley Manning for Allegedly Leaking Video of Helicopter Attack in Iraq

US military presses charges against Army Spc Bradley Manning for allegedly leaking video of US helicopter attack in Iraq to website WikiLeaks.

Army Spc Bradley Manning has been accused by the US military in the leaking of a video of a US helicopter attack in Iraq to the website WikiLeaks. Charges have been pressed against Manning, in which he is accused of transferring classified data on his personal computer and transmitting it to an unauthorized third party, in violation of a section of the Espionage Act, according to BBC News.

Spc Manning allegedly handed over footage of an Apache helicopter killing 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007. He was detained in Baghdad in June, two months after the video's publication. The army has yet to say what leaked information led to the charges, however the date of the operation cited in the charge sheet matches that of the helicopter incident - 12 July 2007.

According to documents published online, Spc Manning was charged on Monday with eight violations of US criminal law and four violations of US Army regulations governing the handling of classified information and computers. Source

If these allegations are proven in court, Spc Bradley Manning is the biggest fool I have ever seen. He took a vow when he enlisted in the military to fight for his country. You can't do that by leaking classified information to a third party, with the expectation that a slap on the wrist is all you would get.