WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. soldier charged with giving documents to WikiLeaks was sent to Iraq against the advice of a mental health specialist, The Washington Post reports.
The Post cites a military official familiar with an investigation into the deployment of Pfc. Bradley Manning and the breach of security that followed. The sources said Manning's immediate commanders at Fort Drum, N.Y., decided to override the mental health specialist's findings.
Manning, a military intelligence analyst, is awaiting court martial on charges of transmitting classified documents to an unauthorized person. He allegedly downloaded documents to his personal computer and then transmitted them to WikiLeaks, the whistleblower Web site.
The investigation by Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen, the commander at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., found Manning's supervisors in Iraq did not properly supervise the area where he worked.
"There were serious leadership failures within the unit chain of command and gross negligence in the supervision of Pfc. Manning in Iraq," another official told the Post.
