Failure to heed a mental health evaluation that concluded that the soldier accused in the WikiLeaks scandal, Pfc. Bradley Manning
(pictured), should not be sent to Iraq and disciplinary lapses may have contributed to the massive leak of classified material. An Army investigation into the matter also found that security procedures were not followed by Manning’s superiors,
The Washington Post reported.
The 23-year-old soldier, currently being held at a Marine detention facility in Quantico, Va., is accused of downloading State Department and Pentagon files and transmitting them. The Army investigation, which is not related to a criminal probe, was conducted by Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen to determine how the breach occurred and is expected to be forwarded to top Army brass and the Defense Secretary this month, the Post said.
“There were serious leadership failures within the unit chain of command and gross negligence in the supervision of Pfc. Manning in Iraq," an official told the Post. Manning had disciplinary problems before his deployment to Iraq and concerns were so high in Iraq about his mental health that a sergeant disabled his weapon, the Post said.
Security was so lax at the computer center where Manning worked that soldiers were allowed to being in compact discs to listen to music. Such discs were allegedly used by Manning to download the classified material, the Post said.
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