Since Wikileaks is in fact a journalist organization, it seems incredibly unlikely that the charge of aiding the enemy will fall through. I believe that if they actually wanted to get him in prison (assuming no court bias), then they would have charged him with similar crimes as they did Snowden: theft of government property, willful communication of intelligence to an unauthorized person, etc.
Oh, and where is the evidence that the information released actually could allow enemies of the U.S. to further their goals? Could I get a link or something?
If it can't, then by definition he rendered no aid to the enemy.
From
List of charges against Bradley Manning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The charges can be broken down as follows:
UCMJ 104 (Aiding the enemy): 1 count. This charge carries a potential death penalty.
UCMJ 92 (Failure to obey a lawful order or regulation): 9 counts. Mostly related to computers.[2][3]
Army Regulation 25-2, para. 4-6(k): Forbids transferring classified info to non-secure systems
Army Regulation 25-2, para. 4-5(a)(3): Modifying or installing unauthorized software to a system, using it for 'unintended' purposes.
Army Regulation 25-2, para. 4-5(a)(4): Circumventing security mechanisms
Army Regulation 380-5: Improper storage of Classified Information
UCMJ 134 (General article): 24 counts. Most of these counts incorporate civilian statutes from the United States Code:
18 U.S.C. § 641: Embezzlement and Theft of Public Money, Property or Records. The government has claimed that various sets of records that Manning transferred were 'things of value' and has thus charged him under this statute.
18 U.S.C. § 793(e): This is part of the Espionage Act. The law forbids 'unauthorized persons' from taking 'national defense' information and either 'retaining' it or delivering it to 'persons not entitled to receive it'. The terminology is rather complicated and often contested in court. 793(e) exists because the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950 modified the original 1917 Espionage Act, partly because of the Alger Hiss/Pumpkin papers case. It is also the same law used against Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo in the Pentagon papers case.[4][5]
18 U.S.C. § 1030(a) 1 & 2: These are from the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986. 1030(a)(1) is sometimes called the 'Computer Espionage' law as it borrows much of its language from the Espionage Act. It was modified by the USA Patriot Act of 2001, which added it to the 'Federal Crimes of Terrorism' list, as well as making it prosecutable under RICO (Racketeering) law.[6]
Total number of counts: 34
He is being charged with similar charges to Snowden, however, because he is military and was outside the US at the time, the military justice system takes jurisdiction and the charges all have to be related to the UCMJ somehow. The OP only focused upon the one charge.
