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FORT MEADE, Md. — U.S. soldier Bradley Manning’s release of secret files to WikiLeaks in the biggest breach of classified data in the nation’s history helped al Qaeda’s recruiting efforts, an expert on radical Islam testified on Thursday.
The militant group used Manning’s releases to claim that “the United States does not value human life,” particularly among Muslims, said Navy Commander Youssef Aboul-Enein, an adviser to the Pentagon’s Joint Intelligence Task Force for Combating Terrorism.
Manning, 25-year-old Army private first class, was convicted last week on 19 charges for providing more than 700,000 diplomatic cables, battlefield videos and other classified data to the WikiLeaks pro-transparency website.
Testifying for the prosecution, Aboul-Enein said al Qaeda used a video Manning had provided to WikiLeaks of a U.S. helicopter gunship in 2007 firing at suspected insurgents in Baghdad. A dozen people were killed, including two Reuters news staff.
The helicopter also fired at a truck in which a child was seated, seriously wounding him.
Al qaeda used the video to demonstrate to Muslims that “this could be your child,” Aboul-Enein said.
Read More: Manning’s WikiLeaks breach helped al Qaeda recruiting, prosecution witness says - U.S. News