海角大神

A seven-day hearing into the biggest national security leak in U.S. history ended Thursday with defense lawyers insisting that the accused soldier was a victim of overreaching by a military that didn't even follow its own rules for safeguarding sensitive information.

The government argued that it had made its case for a court-martial of Pfc.聽Bradley聽Manning, a troubled young intelligence analyst who prosecutors said aided the enemy by leaking troves of documents.

Lawyers for the prosecution and defense gave closing arguments in the preliminary hearing at a military base outside Washington to determine whether聽Manning聽should be tried for allegedly sending hundreds of thousands of diplomatic documents and Iraq and Afghanistan war zone field reports to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

聽聽聽 The presiding officer, Lt. Col. Paul Almanza, has until Jan. 16 to recommend whether the 24-year-old Crescent, Okla., native should be court-martialed.

聽聽聽 Speaking for more than an hour, the chief prosecutor, Capt. Ashden Fein, methodically recounted evidence supporting each of the 22 charges, illustrating his arguments with several dozen slides projected on courtroom screens.

聽聽聽 "He did this during a time of war," Fein said. Laid bare on the Internet last year were military procedures for providing air support for ground troops and procedures used to fly the injured out for medical treatment, he said. Leaked documents also included names of units, intelligence sources and methods, as well as tactics used by troops in general, including secretive special operations commando forces, he said.

聽聽聽 "He wrongfully and wantonly caused the information to be published on the Internet" knowing that "enemies of the United States use the Internet," Fein said.

聽聽聽聽Manning聽was trained and trusted to provide intelligence that battlefield commanders needed, and he abused that trust while serving in Iraq from late 2009 to mid-2010, the prosecutor said.

聽聽聽 Defense attorney David Coombs spoke for about 20 minutes and never denied his client had leaked the documents.

聽聽聽 But he said the Army had failed聽Manning聽as he repeatedly struggled with emotional problems, and that the government is now piling on charges in an attempt to strong-arm聽Manning聽into pleading guilty.

聽聽聽 The defense says聽Manning聽was nearly paralyzed by internal struggles over his belief that he was a woman trapped in a聽man's聽body. They suggest he should not have been sent to the war zone to begin with and say his chain of command failed to suspend his access to classified data despite clear signs of emotional distress, including his statement to a supervisor that he had multiple personalities.

聽聽聽 "This is my problem," Coombs quoted聽Manning聽as writing in a letter to one of his supervisors.聽Manning聽said it had hurt ties with his family, distressed him all the time and that he "thought a career in the military could get rid of it."

聽聽聽 Instead,聽Manning聽said in the letter, the emotional turmoil had "worn me down ... makes my entire life feel like a bad dream that won't end."

聽聽聽 As for security in the intelligence unit where聽Manning聽worked, Coombs called it a "lawless unit" where there was a "critical breakdown" in standards. Witness testimony revealed soldiers were allowed to load personal music CDs onto their workplace computers and play music, movies and video games stored on a network meant for classified data.

聽聽聽 Coombs said the government needs "a reality check" for bringing such serious charges, which carry combined maximum penalties of more than 150 years in prison.

聽聽聽 "Thirty years is more than sufficient" as a maximum punishment, Coombs said, asking Almanza to dismiss most of the charges, including the most serious, aiding the enemy.

聽聽聽 Coombs rebutted remarks from Obama administration officials, including last week's statement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that聽Manning's聽alleged acts had hurt U.S. interests. He said the repeated assertions about damage done was like Chicken Little crying that the sky was falling.

聽聽聽 "The sky is not falling, the sky has not fallen and the sky will not fall," Coombs said.

聽聽聽 And he challenged the government's original decision to classify as "secret" the material WikiLeaks published.

聽聽聽 "Why are we here when all this information is out in public?" Coombs said.

聽聽聽 Prosecutors noted that although the material has been published, the military still considers it classified.

聽聽聽聽Manning's聽supporters say the information published by WikiLeaks exposed war crimes and triggered the wave of pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East.

聽聽聽 Almanza's recommendation will go to Maj. Gen. Michael Linnington, commander of the Military District of Washington, for a final decision on whether聽Manning's聽case will go to a court-martial. Linnington has no deadline to respond.