US soldier Manning denies aiding enemy

The US soldier who leaked documents on the truth about the wars waged by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan has denied the charge of aiding the enemy.

US Army Private Bradley Manning appeared at a pre-trial hearing in a military court in Fort Meade, Maryland, on Thursday.

He denied the charge that he had aided the enemy by revealing secret documents to whistleblower website Wikileaks.

Manning pleaded guilty to a series of 10 lesser charges, including misusing classified material. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for those offenses.

The US army private said during the military court session that he had revealed the information in 2009 and 2010 to help enlighten the public about “what happens and why it happens,” and to “spark a debate about foreign policy.”

“I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience,” Manning stated. “This was the type of information… [that] should become public.”

The information disclosed to Wikileaks included videos of airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which civilians were killed, logs of military incident reports, assessment files of detainees held at prison camp Guantanamo Bay, and a quarter-million cables from US diplomats stationed around the world.

One of the classified videos showed a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters that killed a dozen people in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Manning was arrested in Iraq in May 2010 on suspicion of having passed information to Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, who is currently in political asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Anti-war advocates have criticized Washington for its mistreatment of Manning, who has already been in jail for more than 1,000 days and suffered markedly harsh treatment during his confinement.

British MP George Galloway said Manning should “be getting a Nobel Prize instead of being tortured and what is the British government doing about this torture of the Welshman, Bradley Manning?”

“What they’re doing, is intriguing and plotting with the Swedish government and the US government to send Julian Assange to join him on the torture tables and in solitary confinement for the next 50 years. And we call ourselves the land of the free,” Galloway stated.

Manning’s trial is scheduled to start on June 3, with further pretrial hearings set for March 1 and May 21-24. He could face life imprisonment if convicted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.