FORT MEADE, MD - FEBRUARY 23: Army Private Bradley Manning is escorted away from his Article 32 hearing February 23, 2012 in Fort Meade, Maryland. During the hearing, Manning deferred his plea to the 22 charges against him and deferred a decision over whether he wanted a military judge or a jury to hear his case. (Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images) Mark Wilson<\/p>\n
Updated: 10:45 p.m. ET <\/p>\n
FORT MEADE, Md. Pfc. Bradley Manning put U.S. military secrets into the hands of Osama bin Laden himself, prosecutors said Monday as the Army intelligence analyst went on trial over the biggest leak of classified material in American history. <\/p>\n
Manning's lawyers countered by arguing that he was a \"young, naive but good-intentioned\" soldier whose struggle to fit in as a gay man in the military made him feel he \"needed to do something to make a difference in this world.\" <\/p>\n
Manning, 25, has admitted turning over hundreds of thousands of documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, pleading guilty earlier this year to charges that could bring 20 years behind bars. But the military pressed ahead with a court-martial on more serious charges, including aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence. <\/p>\n
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Manning is charged with aiding the enemy by causing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to be published on the secret-sharing website W... <\/p>\n
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In what came as a surprise, Army Private Bradley Manning pleaded guilty to ten criminal charges in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S... <\/p>\n
Prosecutors said they will present evidence that bin Laden requested and obtained from another al Qaeda member Afghanistan battlefield reports and State Department cables published by WikiLeaks. <\/p>\n
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