CNN news 2013-08-03 加文本

cnn news 2013-08-03

The sentencing hearing begins tomorrow forArmy Private 1st Class Bradley Manning for the biggest leak of claassifiedmaterial in U.S. history. A military judge say acquitting him the most seriouscharge aiding the enemy for turning over three quarters of million classifieddocuments in videos to website Wiki leaks. Show the judge however did convictPrivate 1st Class Manning of numerous other accounts including violating theespionage act. So, he is still facing a maximum of 136 years behind bars. TheManning case obviously touched off a furious debate over the actual harm thatManning has done and whether the government initially over stated the damage.Like the NSA leaker Edward Snowden Private 1st Class Manning has been a traitorby some but hero by some, frankly everything in between.

Let's talk about it with senior legalanalyst Jeffrey Toobin and only on 360 Glenn Greenwald, investigativejournalist and columnist for Britain's "Guardian" paper. He broke theSnowden story.

Jeff, let me start with you. What's yourreaction to the verdict?

I thought it was a good verdict, I thinkthe charge of helping the enemy was excessive and I think it was good to judgeacquitted him of that charge, but I think what Manning did was appalling. Ithink he betrayed his fellow numbers of military, he betrayed Foreign Serviceand he should be going to prison and he will be.

Glenn, I know you disagree.

I do. I think the verdict and I also thinkthat Jeff's comments kind of underscore why a lot of people really hate aboutWashington which is that if you are sufficiently rich and powerful andwell-connected in Washington, the laws don't apply to you. You don't getpunished. The only people who do are people like Bradley Manning. The theorythat the government used one of which was not successful but many of which werethat he engaged in espionage and helped the enemy because the material that hecaused to be published on the Internet ended up being helpful to Osama binLaden. Bob Woodward has written book after book after book and has becomeextreme rich by publishing secrets way more sensitive than anything BradleyManning ever published. Nothing that Manning published was top secret, unlikewhat Bob Woodward publishes. And yet nobody would ever talk about Bob Woodwardthe way that Jeff Toobin just did or his sources because he is in good standingin Washington. His sources are high-level officials in the White House. Theyleak all the time. Washington is nothing about leaks. And yet the only peoplewho get punished for it are people who are marginalized in Washington andthat's a broader reflection of how the law is abused.

Jeff, you do have people leaking all thetime for political reasons.

You do have some leaking going on and, youknow, I, we could have a debate on a case-by-case basis but Bradley Manningreleased 700,000 cables including the life's work of a lot of foreign serviceofficers who risk their lives and the people they talk to risk their lives totalk to American officials, and the idea that Bradley Manning has the right,and it was somehow justified, in releasing this material, I think is justcompletely wrong.