U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning says he slipped hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the WikiLeaks website to start a public debate about the role of the military in Iraq and Afghanistan and foreign policy in general.
During a pre-trial hearing, Manning pleaded "guilty" to 10 of the 22 charges against him in connection with the biggest leak of government secrets in U.S. history.
But Manning pleaded "not guilty" to the most serious charge: aiding the enemy, which carries a life-in-prison penalty.
The military judge is deciding whether to accept the guilty pleas, for which he faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison
U.S. government secrets exposed by WikiLeaks beginning in 2010 stunned diplomats across the globe and outraged officials, who said damage to national security from the leaks endangered lives.
Manning's court martial is to begin June 3.