Federal officials have arrested Specialist Bradley Manning for allegedly
leaking secret military documents, including the
much-discussed video of
U.S. helicopters killing several civilians in Iraq, to the website
Wikileaks. Manning, a 22-year-old Army intelligence analyst, had bragged
on the Internet to the noted ex-hacker Adrian Lamo that he was
responsible for the leaks. Lamo reported Manning to the FBI, turning
over their chat transcripts, in which Manning also claimed to have
leaked 260,000 secret diplomatic cables.
- Why He Leaked the
Files Wired's Kevin Poulson and Kim Zetter
write, "From the chat logs provided by Lamo, and examined by Wired.com,
it appears Manning sensed a kindred spirit in the ex-hacker. He
discussed personal issues that got him into trouble with his superiors
and left him socially isolated, and said he had been demoted and was
headed for an early discharge from the Army. ... [Manning] claimed to
have been rummaging through classified military and government networks
for more than a year and said that the networks contained 'incredible
things, awful things … that belonged in the public domain, and not on
some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC.'"
- Lamo:
Why I Outed Him Adrian Lamo
explains himself:
"I outed Brad Manning as an alleged leaker out of
duty. I would never (and have never) out an Ordinary Decent Criminal.
There's a difference. Hackers confide in
me all the time. I'd go to prison before I'd betray their trust. I
didn't get Manning arrested. He got himself arrested. I'm heartsick for Manning and his family. I hope
they can forgive me some day for doing what I felt had to be done.
I know what it's like to be 22, scared, and
in shackles too. I've been there. I hope none of you ever have to make a
choice like this."
- Wikileaks Urges
Skepticism of Story Wikileaks announced on Twitter, "We never collect
personal information on our sources, so we are are unable as yet to
confirm the Manning story. Allegations in Wired
that we have been sent 260,000 classified US embassy cables are, as far
as we can tell, incorrect. Adrian Lamo &
Kevin Poulsen are notorious felons, informers & manipulators.
Journalists should take care." Poulsen, who co-wrote the story for
Wired, is a notorious ex-hacker.
- The
Fault is Manning's, Not Wikileaks' Mother Jones' Dave Gilson writes, "That
Manning was apparently sunk by his own loose lips gives added weight to
Assange's assertion that WikiLeaks' procedure for anonymous leaking has
never led to the outing of any of its sources. As he told MoJo about two Kenyan human
rights activists with links to a WikiLeaks leak who were later gunned
down, their mistake was that they 'weren't acting in an anonymous way.'
Manning, it would seem, wasn't either."
- What Military Will
Investigate--If Story Is Even True Marcy Wheeler writes, "The
military is likely to be most interested in learning how the encryption
on the video(s) was broken–and whether Wikileaks allegedly got that from
Manning or not. That, plus I would imagine they’re interested in
breaking Wikileaks’ own code to prevent any further leaking. But if
Manning’s telling stories about what he leaked to Wikileaks, it might
mean he’s not the guy–or the only guy–who leaked this."
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