(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Why have the US media shied away from covering the source of the WikiLeaks material yet gouged on his information?
US Private Bradley Manning is no longer the alleged source of all those documents to WikiLeaks. According to his own testimony, delivered before a military court on February 28, Manning was the source – nothing alleged about it.
In a pre-trial hearing for the first time, Manning admitted that he broke the law when he released around 700,000 government documents to WikiLeaks but these lesser charges did not satisfy the United States government.
Calling more than 100 witnesses – some anonymously and in closed hearings – prosecutors will argue that Manning’s leak put national security and lives at risk by ‘aiding the enemy’.
If convicted, Manning – the traitor, could face life without parole but what of Manning – the whistleblower?
During his hour-long plea, Manning told the court that he first turned to the national press. Before approaching WikiLeaks, Manning says he contacted the New York Times, the Washington Post and Politico – neither of which returned his calls. His testimony raises the question of whether the mainstream press was prepared to host the debate on US interventions and foreign policy that Manning had in mind.