Bradley Manning, 'Person of Interest' in WikiLeaks Case, Moved to Quantico
Tom Diemer
Correspondent
Posted:
07/30/10
Pfc. Bradley Manning, a "person of interest" in the probe of leaked Afghan war documents, is being moved from Kuwait to Quantico where he'll be held while the Army decides the next steps in a case Defense Secretary Robert Gates said has "potentially dramatic and grievously harmful consequences."
Manning, a 22-year-old intelligence analyst, is already in custody on charges that he earlier provided the WikiLeaks website with other classified information, including a helicopter cockpit video of a deadly 2007 firefight in Baghdad.
Gates said Thursday that the documents, relating to events between 2004 and December 2009, amounted to a "mountain of raw data and individual impressions," the New York Times said. The leaked documents could endanger lives and damage the credibility of the U.S. in its ability to protect secrets, he said.
"The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world," Gates said. "Intelligence sources and methods, as well as military tactics, techniques and procedures, will become known to our adversaries."
Asked on NBC's Today show what the White House can do to stop additional leaks, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, "we can do nothing but implore the person that has those classified top secret documents not to post any more."
Gates said the disclosures have has forced the military to rethink a trend, dating to the 1991 Persian Gulf War, of making intelligence more accessible to troops in combat situations so they can apply it on the battlefield.
Manning, a 22-year-old intelligence analyst, is already in custody on charges that he earlier provided the WikiLeaks website with other classified information, including a helicopter cockpit video of a deadly 2007 firefight in Baghdad.
Gates said Thursday that the documents, relating to events between 2004 and December 2009, amounted to a "mountain of raw data and individual impressions," the New York Times said. The leaked documents could endanger lives and damage the credibility of the U.S. in its ability to protect secrets, he said.
"The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world," Gates said. "Intelligence sources and methods, as well as military tactics, techniques and procedures, will become known to our adversaries."
Asked on NBC's Today show what the White House can do to stop additional leaks, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, "we can do nothing but implore the person that has those classified top secret documents not to post any more."
Gates said the disclosures have has forced the military to rethink a trend, dating to the 1991 Persian Gulf War, of making intelligence more accessible to troops in combat situations so they can apply it on the battlefield.