It is his lawyers' chance to try to convince a panel of military jurors that Bradley Manning is a whistleblower, not a traitor.The defense opened its case Monday with a combat video leaked by Manning of a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed civilians including two employees of the Reuters news agency.Manning has admitted leaking information.His lawyers want some charges dismissed, arguing Manning was a naive young man who acted out of an interest to help, not hurt, the United States by exposing what he believed was wrongdoing by U.S. forces in Iraq.The prosecution rested its case last week, saying Manning committed espionage and aided the enemy.Despite much anticipation, observers note prosecutors did not present evidence showing the material he leaked caused major damage to U.S. national security.Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Morris Davis, a former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, is among a long list of witnesses called by the defense. Davis spoke to VOA earlier.“Certainly, there's been embarrassment. But there's a big difference in being embarrassed and being harmed and I just haven't seen much evidence of there being any harm.So I think he ought to be held accountable but it ought to be a punishment that fits the crime and not what the government thought the impact was going to be," he said.More details of the damage Manning may have caused could emerge in the sentencing phase, when the judge weighs the punishment with the amount of harm done.
