Bradley Manning Sentenced To 35 Years In Wiki Leaks Espionage Case [VIDEO]

Bradley Manning a former United States Army Pfc was sentenced Wednesday morning to 35-years in prison. Manning was convicted of espionage after he was connected to a large leak of classified documents. The classified material was discovered on Wiki Leaks. Manning was tried before a military court. Army Colonel Denise Lind presided over the sentencing. The 35-year prison term was handed down this morning in a military courtroom in Fort Meade, Md. Pfc Manning was given a dishonorable discharge from the army. He will forfeit all benefits and his pension.

Over three years ago Bradley Manning was arrested in Iraq for leaking a massive amount of classified documents. After a 12-week trial Manning was found guilty of espionage. The now 25-year-old was placed before a military court and the prosecution proceeded to portray him as an anarchist and traitor. The defense painted a different picture of Manning. They said their client was young and idealistic. The defense said Manning hoped to expose some harsh truths about the US Military and wanted to change the way the world looks at war.

During a courtroom appearance last week Manning apologized to the United States for having caused any pain. "I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people," Manning said. He added that he was "sorry that I hurt the United States." Manning's defense attorney said the only crime his client committed was that "he cared about the loss of life he was seeing and was struggling with it." Manning was serving in Iraq when he became disillusioned with what he was witnessing.

In February 2010 Manning leaked the first of many classified documents to Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange. Of the more than 700,000 documents leaked by Manning some included, according to the Associated Press, battlefield reports and State Department Cables. In 2007 Manning leaked a video of an Apache helicopter attack that killed nine people by mistake, one of whom was a Reuters photographer. The video was then reported to have been used by Al-Qaeda in a propaganda video against the United States.

It is also believed that Osama Bin Laden read some of Manning's Wiki Leaks documents. AP reports during the 2011 raid on Bin Laden's compound, material leaked by Manning was found among Bin Laden's possessions. After Private Manning was found guilty the prosecution asked the judge to consider giving the solider 90-years in prison in order to make an example of Manning. Defense attorneys asked for no more than 30-years. The defense explained their request by reiterating their earlier statement saying their client truly believed he was helping the US and its' people.

During the course of the Manning trial the Unites States was hit with another leaking crisis coming from the NSA. Edward Snowden leaked to The Guardian, classified information about the NSA surveillance program. After the story was released Snowden wasted no time in fleeing the US. Currently Snowden has been granted a year-long asylum in Russia. Russia and the US butted heads over Snowden. The US demanded his return but Russia refused. During Snowden's one year asylum the Russian government will consider his request for full asylum.

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