FT. MEADE, Md. (CN) - Opening arguments at a long-anticipated trial of WikiLeaker Bradley Manning on Monday cast the soldier as a "young, naive but good intentioned" humanist, and a reckless dumper of government secrets who gained the "notoriety he craved" by exposing a wartime database to Osama bin Laden, and other enemies.
Manning, a 25-year old former intelligence specialist, was arrested in May 2010 in connection with the biggest intelligence disclosure in U.S. history - leaks he admitted in part months before the start of his trial on Monday.
To his supporters, Manning exposed crimes and corruption in how the U.S. conducts warfare and diplomacy. The Bradley Manning Support Network estimated that more than 1,000 showed up to a rally in his support on Saturday, and dozens weathered the rain to greet the start of his trial on Monday.
The released files include, among others, diplomatic cables, incident reports from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, profiles of Guantanamo detainees, and a video of a Baghdad airstrike that WikiLeaks titled "Collateral Murder."
Apparently for the first time, prosecutors accused him of helping to edit the final video WikiLeaks published. The Pentagon claims that the edit is misleading.
Manning's lawyer did not answer that allegation in their opening statement.
In the past, the defense has denied the charge that Manning exposed a "Global Address List" with the personal information and emails of 74,000 service members stationed in Iraq, and the legal team has disputed the date of disclosures related to another airstrike on Farah, Afghanistan.
Manning previously made the admissions, and the denials, while pleading guilty to 10 so-called "lesser included offenses," reduced versions of his original charges to limit his potential sentencing exposure to a maximum 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors accepted only one of those pleas and otherwise intend to pursue the other original 21 specifications, which include violations of the Espionage Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and "aiding the enemy," in particular al-Qaida, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and a "classified enemy."
Capt. Joe Morrow, a towering prosecutor standing at 6-foot-5, used a Powerpoint presentation to deliver methodical and detailed opening remarks for the government. He began with a quotation from Internet chat logs between Manning and his online-confidante-turned-informer, Adrian Lamo.
"if you had unprecedented access to classified networks 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 8+ months, what would you do?" bradass87 wrote.
Morrow said Manning "literally dumped that information onto the Internet, into the hands of the enemy," including al-Qaida and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
To convict on that top charge, the government must prove that Manning knew that leaking the information would have that effect.
Prosecutors hope to show this by arguing that Manning's training as a former intelligence specialist gave him insight into the dangers of unauthorized disclosures.
Indeed the training guide, which Morrow displayed for the court, depicts a crude cartoon of a man sitting in front of a computer with unattributed statistics about an alleged proliferation in "terrorist" websites.
Prosecutors also aim to prove Manning's knowledge with respect to his transmission of an Army counterintelligence report that portrayed WikiLeaks as an information depot frequented by foreign intelligence services, terrorists and insurgents.
"Evidence will show that [Manning] knew the nature of the organization," Morrow hinted darkly, referring to WikiLeaks.