Pentagon Papers leaker says Manning a ‘casualty’
Aug 21, 2013, 3:38 PM
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) – Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg says Bradley Manning is “one more casualty of a horrible, wrongful war” and he did not deserve any prison time.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday for giving troves of military and diplomatic secrets to WikiLeaks.
Ellsberg told The Associated Press by telephone that Manning will always be an inspiration of civil and moral courage to truth tellers.
He called the prosecutor’s demand for 60 years “vicious,” but said the judge’s ruling was much better.
Ellsberg is the defense analyst who in 1971 leaked the secret history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam to The New York Times and other newspapers.
The leak led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the First Amendment.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)