FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan., June 16 (UPI) --Chelsea Manning accused the U.S. of consistently lying about the war in Iraq and slammed the process of embedding journalists in military units in the New York Times on Sunday.

Manning, who has been mostly silent since being convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing classified materials to WikiLeaks, said that in light of the recent surge of violence in Iraq it is time to question "how the United States military controlled the media coverage of its long involvement there and in Afghanistan."

"I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive government secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance," she wrote in the op-ed, titled "The Fog Machine of War."

Manning cited failures in press freedom when reports described the 2010 Iraq elections as a success -- a milestone that signified the creation a free and democratic system. Contrary to these reports, Manning wrote that at the time, military and diplomatic reports said political dissidents of Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki were detained, tortured and killed by the federal police.

She says she was previously ordered to investigate people the federal police said were printing "anti-Iraqi literature." Upon finding these individuals were not affiliated with terrorists, she forwarded the information to a commanding officer who told her to continue assisting the federal police in tracking down more "anti-Iraqi" printers.

The fact that this was never reported by western media, Manning said, shows a lack of press freedom regarding military operations. During her deployment she says she never saw more than 12 embedded journalists in Iraq because the military controls the process.

Less well known is that journalists whom military contractors rate as likely to produce 'favorable' coverage, based on their past reporting, also get preference. This outsourced 'favorability' rating assigned to each applicant is used to screen out those judged likely to produce critical coverage.

Manning said military public affairs officers could strip a journalist of embed status if they report something the military does not like.

Freedom of the press in the U.S. did see a significant decline in 2013. Reporters Without Borders released a report in February that showed the U.S. had dropped from the 32nd to the 46th spot in a list of countries ranked by press freedom. Manning's conviction contributed to the drop in ranking.

"Opinion polls indicate that Americans' confidence in their elected representatives is at a record low. Improving media access to this crucial aspect of our national life -- where America has committed the men and women of its armed services -- would be a powerful step toward re-establishing trust between voters and officials," Manning concluded.

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Chelsea Manning advocates for expanded press freedom - UPI.com

TIME U.S. Military

Chelsea Manning, the former military intelligence analyst who is serving a 35-year prison sentence for leaking classified information in 2010, has broken her silence to rail against a lack of military transparency in a New York Times editorial.

In the article, Manning calls for a new government body to oversee embedded journalists press credentials and for a quicker declassification of the militarys Significant Activity Reports, which detail the facts of attacks and casualties and could aid reporters coverage of the conflict.

I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive government secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance, Manning writes.

The soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning was arrested in 2010 on several charges, including aiding the enemy, after leaking reams of intelligence to Wikileaks earlier that year. The day after she was sentenced to 35 years in prison, Manning whom many consider a traitor to her country came out as a transgender woman and announced she would live her life as Chelsea Manning.

Manning points to journalists coverage of the March 2010 elections in Iraq, which suggested that United States military operations had succeeded in establishing democracy, though on-the-ground reports she had access to revealed a crackdown against political dissidents in the country during that time.

Manning was also appalled by the disparity between daily media coverage of the war back home and the daily military intelligence reports she read during her time as an analyst.

How could top-level decision makers say that the American public, or even Congress, supported the conflict when they didnt have half the story?

She writes that the system of approving and embedding reporters is deeply flawed and makes it difficult for journalists to report the news accurately. Manning claims the military has a history of granting access to reporters it thinks will write favorable coverage. Policies in place allow for immediate termination of reporters access, which Manning alleges was has been used as punishment for critical coverage, like when Michael Hastings was denied access following his reporting on Gen. Stanley A. McChrystals critical comments on the Obama administration.

Improving media access to this crucial aspect of our national life where America has committed the men and women of its armed services would be a powerful step toward re-establishing trust between voters and officials, she writes.

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Chelsea Manning Breaks Her Silence

A U.S. soldier imprisoned for leaking documents to WikiLeaks broke her silence in a fiery editorial accusing the United States of lying about Iraq.

Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking 750,000 pages of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group.

At the time, Manning went by the first name Bradley, but later announced the desire to live as a woman and be known as Chelsea.

Manning has stayed out of the limelight since the conviction, which spared the former intelligence analyst from the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.

But she was back Saturday, with an opinion piece titled 'The Fog Machine of War" in The New York Times. In it, she accuses the U.S. media of looking the other way when chaos and corruption reigned in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"As Iraq erupts in civil war and America again contemplates intervention, that unfinished business should give new urgency to the question of how the United States military controlled the media coverage of its long involvement there and in Afghanistan," Manning wrote.

"I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive government secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance."

She said that during the 2010 elections in Iraq, the media duped the world into thinking that all was well.

"You might remember that the American press was flooded with stories declaring the elections a success, complete with upbeat anecdotes and photographs of Iraqi women proudly displaying their ink-stained fingers," she wrote. "The subtext was that United States military operations had succeeded in creating a stable and democratic Iraq. Those of us stationed there were acutely aware of a more complicated reality."

She said at the time, she got regular reports detailing security forces' crackdown against dissidents "on behalf" of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

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Chelsea Manning accuses U.S. of lying on Iraq

A U.S. soldier imprisoned for leaking documents to WikiLeaks broke her silence in a fiery editorial accusing the United States of lying about Iraq.

Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking 750,000 pages of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group.

At the time, Manning went by the first name Bradley, but later announced the desire to live as a woman and be known as Chelsea.

Manning has stayed out of the limelight since the conviction, which spared the former intelligence analyst from the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.

But she was back Saturday, with an opinion piece titled The Fog Machine of War in The New York Times. In it, she accuses the U.S. media of looking the other way when chaos and corruption reigned in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As Iraq erupts in civil war and America again contemplates intervention, that unfinished business should give new urgency to the question of how the United States military controlled the media coverage of its long involvement there and in Afghanistan, Manning wrote.

I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive government secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance.

She said that during the 2010 elections in Iraq, the media duped the world into thinking that all was well.

You might remember that the American press was flooded with stories declaring the elections a success, complete with upbeat anecdotes and photographs of Iraqi women proudly displaying their ink-stained fingers, she wrote. The subtext was that United States military operations had succeeded in creating a stable and democratic Iraq. Those of us stationed there were acutely aware of a more complicated reality.

She said at the time, she got regular reports detailing security forces crackdown against dissidents on behalf of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

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Chelsea Manning breaks silence, accuses U.S. of lying about Iraq

Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst responsible for the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history, says she disclosed the information out of "a love for my country and a sense of duty to others."

For the first time since she was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the leak, Manning writes at length in an opinion column published by The New York Times on Sunday.

Manning, who was formerly known as Bradley, says that as the U.S. considers renewed military action in Iraq, she thinks some of the issues she exposed have yet to be addressed.

Mainly, Manning writes about the lack of information in the United States. Manning says that even back in 2010, she saw a complicated reality on the ground, while the U.S. media painted a rosy picture of successful elections.

Manning writes:

"If you were following the news during the March 2010 elections in Iraq, you might remember that the American press was flooded with stories declaring the elections a success, complete with upbeat anecdotes and photographs of Iraqi women proudly displaying their ink-stained fingers. The subtext was that United States military operations had succeeded in creating a stable and democratic Iraq.

"Those of us stationed there were acutely aware of a more complicated reality.

"Military and diplomatic reports coming across my desk detailed a brutal crackdown against political dissidents by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and federal police, on behalf of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. Detainees were often tortured, or even killed.

"Early that year, I received orders to investigate 15 individuals whom the federal police had arrested on suspicion of printing 'anti-Iraqi literature.' I learned that these individuals had absolutely no ties to terrorism; they were publishing a scholarly critique of Mr. Maliki's administration. I forwarded this finding to the officer in command in eastern Baghdad. He responded that he didn't need this information; instead, I should assist the federal police in locating more 'anti-Iraqi' print shops."

The whole piece is worth a read, so we encourage you to click over.

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Chelsea Manning Says She Leaked Classified Info Out Love For Country

Chelsea Manning, currently serving a thirty-five year sentence for leaking a heap of classified military materials to Wikileaks, penned an op-ed for the New York Times Sunday morning in which she called for greater press access to U.S. military operations, arguing that more transparency would produce a better informed populace and restore confidence in political and military officials.

I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive government secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance, she wrote.

Manning, a former intelligence analyst, said she saw in Iraq the wide gulf in the understanding of U.S. military operations enjoyed by intelligence analysts versus that attainable by the public or even lawmakers, both of whom made poor decisions based on incomplete information:

The more I made these daily comparisons between the news back in the States and the military and diplomatic reports available to me as an analyst, the more aware I became of the disparity. In contrast to the solid, nuanced briefings we created on the ground, the news available to the public was flooded with foggy speculation and simplifications.

Manning especially critiqued the embedded reporter procedures, which she said all but demanded favorable coverage from the few members of the press who achieved access to it in the first place not, Manning argued, a coincidence:

The embedded reporter program, which continues in Afghanistan and wherever the United States sends troops, is deeply informed by the militarys experience of how media coverage shifted public opinion during the Vietnam War. The gatekeepers in public affairs have too much power: Reporters naturally fear having their access terminated, so they tend to avoid controversial reporting that could raise red flags.

[h/t New York Times]

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Chelsea Manning: ‘Excessive Gov’t Secrecy’ Harms Media’s Coverage of War

Manning says the concerns that lead her to disclose classified information have not been resolved.

WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning broke her silence on Sunday, writing the US militarys control of the media gave the public a distorted view of Iraq and Afghanistan.

In The Fog Machine of War, an op-ed published Sunday in The New York Times, Manning writes that the concerns that lead her to disclose classified information have not been resolved.

As Iraq erupts in civil war and America again contemplates intervention, that unfinished business should give new urgency to the question of how the United States military controlled the media coverage of its long involvement there and in Afghanistan, Manning writes. I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive government secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance.

Last August, the former Army intelligence analyst was sentenced to 35 years in prison after she was found guilty of 20 offenses including wrongful possession and transmission of national defense information. At her sentencing hearing, Manning, previously a male named Bradley Manning, revealed her new identity and said she would begin taking hormone therapy.

Manning writes that despite stories declaring the March, 2010, election in Iraq a success, those stationed there were acutely aware of a more complicated reality, including the militarys complicity in corruption.

Manning blames the problem in part on the process of embedding reporters with military units, which she says is far from unbiased. Manning writes that the process screens out those judged likely to produce critical coverage.

Unsurprisingly, reporters who have established relationships with the military are more likely to be granted access.

Less well known is that journalists whom military contractors rate as likely to produce favorable coverage, based on their past reporting, also get preference.

Manning writes that an independent board made up of military staff members, veterans, Pentagon civilians and journalists could balance the publics need for information with the militarys need for operational security.

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Manning breaks silence on US wars