A mental health specialist recommended not deploying WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning to Iraq. But Manning’s immediate commanders sent him anyway.

Manning is the 23-year-old Private accused of sending classified material to the WikiLeaks website. He was charged last summer with downloading classified State Department and Pentagon files onto his personal computer and then transmitting them to an unauthorized person.

A military official familiar with an Army investigation tells the Washington Post – the final decision on whether a soldier is fit to go to a war zone rests with his immediate commanders. But the investigation has concluded – the commanders’ decision to not heed the specialist’s advice – and their failure to properly discipline Manning – might have contributed to the incident.

The Army investigation is separate from the ongoing criminal inquiry. The source says the Army also found that Manning’s supervisors did not set up proper oversight of the area where the classified files were kept.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily DoD Report. For more defense news, click here.

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