Procedural lapses behind Wikileaks Army private breaching classified military network

WASHINGTON - The Army private accused of leaking secret US diplomatic cables to Wikileaks had been sent to Iraq by his immediate commanders against the advice of his mental health specialist, a military official familiar with a new Army investigation has said.

The recommendation by the specialist at Fort Drum in New York, failed to stop the immediate commanders, who takes the final decision on whether a soldier is fit to go to a war zone, from deploying Pfc. Bradley E. Manning to Iraq, the Washington Post reports.

An Army investigation, however, has concluded that the commanders’ decision not to listen to the specialist’s advice and their failure to properly discipline Manning may have contributed to one of the most high-profile classified military network breaches in decades, the military official said.

He further said that the Army investigation found that Manning’s immediate supervisors did not follow procedures for overseeing the secure area where the classified information was kept, greatly increasing the risk of a security breach, the paper said.

Twenty-three-year-old Manning, an intelligence analyst, has been accused of downloading classified State Department and Pentagon files onto his personal computer, and transferring them to an unauthorized person.

The Pentagon had reportedly ordered the investigation, which was conducted by Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen, the senior Army commander at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, to determine how the breach occurred and whether broader institutional failings allowed Manning to allegedly download the documents. (ANI)