Read Bradley Manning's (Redacted) Explanation of Why He Leaked
Bradley Manning's brave lawyer just published the full statement that the young private read aloud in his pretrial hearing last month, detailing how and why he gave government secrets to WikiLeaks. It is, predictably, redacted, but much to our surprise the censorship is scant. It appears that only a handful of individual and organization names got the black out treatment. Otherwise, it's a pretty raw, however carefully worded account of Manning's infamous info heist and resulting relationship with WikiLeaks. Assuming he's actually the one who wrote the 34-page document, it's also the first time we've heard Manning's voice in quite some some time. It's terribly detailed and jargon-filled, banal at times but inevitably revealing.
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Manning's leak may or may not be the weather's fault
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There are a million points in time that Manning could have decided to take the information he stole from the military public, but he appears to pinpoint a 2010 blizzard on the East Coast as the turning point:
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Manning takes a swipe at how gay people are treated in the military
We know that Manning was alienated from his unit and, as a result, pretty lonely. This is part of the reason why he spent so much time online. Here, he gives us a better idea of why:
Manning is only interested in the truth
This statement meshes well with the defense's stated argument that Manning was acting as a whistleblower and attempting to expose misconduct within the military. He positions himself as such in the statement:
Manning fancied himself an armchair diplomat
This is the crux of Manning's defense, yet he can't help but sound self-righteous when explaining how he ended up releasing the diplomatic cables which, he said, he basically just read because he was bored at work:
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Read the full statement:
