Army Paints Manning as an Anarchist Seeking Notoriety

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

26 July 13

esterday, the prosecution attempted to paint Bradley Manning as an anarchist whose motive was self-promotion. The closing argument took seven hours.

Defense attorney David Coombs addressed supporters outside the courtroom after court recessed. "When you take seven hours to make your wild conclusions, it's a sign that you don't have a case and you are reaching. The truth will only take two hours tomorrow when we close our case."

Attorney Michael Rattner from the Center for Constitutional Rights told RSN that "what we saw today was an effort to smear Manning's character. We never heard any evidence throughout the trial that Manning was an anarchist. The evidence showed that Manning was upset with what he saw and wanted to spark a debate on the war. In no way did the evidence show Manning was out for self promotion."

Major Ashton Fein made the closing argument for the Army. He opened by saying that Manning violated a special trust that the Army puts in all-source intelligence analysts. He described Manning as someone who cared for no one but himself and was seeking notoriety.

Fein immediately contradicted himself by arguing that while Manning was seeking ways to remain anonymous, his real motive was to become famous.

Fein never explained why Manning would, in chats with Julian Assange, talk about guaranteeing that his identity be protected if he had been seeking fame. Fein also went into all the steps Manning took to keep his identity secret. Manning scrubbed his laptop in a seven-step process to try to erase all the data that allegedly leaked prior to January 2010.

As Fein went over charge after charge, he claimed to know at the end that Manning thought each leak was building his rise to fame. On two occasions the prosecution showed a picture of a smiling Manning while on leave in January of 2010. Fein claimed it showed that he wasn't a troubled, naïve young man, but was ecstatic because he had just made his first leak to Julian Assange. They concluded this without any evidence to back it up.

Describing the photo of Bradley Manning, the prosecution stated, "This is a picture of a person who thought he was finally becoming famous."

The Amy claimed Manning's real goal was to create "worldwide anarchy." They claimed the quote came from chats with Lambo, but Manning supporters are saying the quote is taken out of context, that Manning said that diplomacy was creating worldwide anarchy. Fein also claimed that Manning thought the collateral damage video was "cool," when in fact it troubled him that the Apache pilots thought it was cool.

Major Fein wrapped up his case alleging that "Bradley Manning is not a whistleblower, he is a traitor."

The courtroom erupted with supporters telling Manning he is a hero, and to not let the lies get him down.

The defense will begin their closing argument at 9:30 a.m. today.

I spent my day with pad and pen in the courtroom, and was not at the designated media center. Reports from the media center paint a picture of increased press intimidation.

Nathan Fuller of the Bradley Manning Support Network reported the following:

New intimidation tactics in Ft. Meade press room

Unlike ever before, armed soldiers paced around the media center today, creepily monitoring reporters' use of the Internet despite the fact that Ft. Meade had shut down WiFi in the center when court was in session and banned wireless hotspots. These soldiers reprimanded various journalists for simply having web pages open, and lurked over our shoulders. When asked why, they merely said they had to ensure we didn't transmit any information while not in recess. When told they were creeping us out, they said they would continue anyway. They also used scanning wands to search us for electronic devices upon entry and emptied our bags – a first in the media center.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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