Bradley Manning, Soldier Tied To WikiLeaks Iraq Attack Video, Charged In Federal Court, and Pal "Lamo" is a Rat

BARBARA SURK | 07/ 6/10 02:37 PM | AP

BAGHDAD -

The classified video was taken from the cockpit during a 2007 fire fight and posted last April on the website Wikileaks.org. It was an unflattering portrait of the war that raised questions about the military's rules of engagement and whether more should be done to prevent civilian casualties.

Among those believed to have been killed in the attack were a Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver Saeed Chmagh, 40. Two children were wounded.

Hours after the military announcement, Wikileaks sent out a tweet complaining that while Manning was charged, the "trigger-happy Apache crew remain uncharged."

Manning, 22, from Potomac, Md., was detained in Baghdad in early June and is now being held in Kuwait.

A military version of a grand jury hearing will determine if Manning should face a trial by court-martial, the Army's statement said.

No date has been set for the hearing that will take place in Baghdad, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Eric Bloom told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

A criminal investigation is still open, the Army statement said, detailing charges against Manning including "transferring classified data onto his personal computer and adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system."

Manning was also charged with "communicating, transmitting and delivering national defense information to an unauthorized source" and with "disclosing classified information concerning the national defense with reason to believe that the information could cause injury to the United States."

An internal military investigation concluded that the troops in the helicopters acted appropriately. According to a last year's summary of the results of the inquiry, Reuters employees were likely "intermixed among the insurgents" and difficult to distinguish because of their equipment, the document states.

Former computer hacker Adrian Lamo of Sacramento, Calif., said he alerted the military after Manning confided in him online that he had leaked the video in addition to 260,000 classified diplomatic cables.

Lamo, who first provided his account to Wired.com, told The AP last month that he agonized over the decision.

"I turned him in because, for the rest of my life, I'd wonder if something he leaked would have cost a human life," Lamo said.

In 2004, Lamo had pleaded guilty to breaking into The New York Times' computer system and still owes $62,800 in federal restitution. He said he has received no financial benefit from turning in Manning and that the money he owes was never discussed.