The Passion of Bradley Manning by Chase Madar Read Free Book Online

phenomeon
    (01:54:14 PM ) [email protected]: is that how you got the cables out?
    (01:54:28 PM ) bradass87: perhaps
    (01:54:42 PM ) bradass87: i would come in with music on a CD-RW
    (01:55:21 PM ) bradass87: labelled with something like “Lady Gaga”… erase the music… then write a compressed split file
    (01:55:46 PM ) bradass87: no-one suspected a thing
    (01:55:48 PM ) bradass87: =L kind of sad
    (01:56:04 PM ) [email protected]: and odds are, they never will
    (01:56:07 PM ) bradass87: i didnt even have to hide anything
    (01:56:36 PM ) [email protected]: from a professional perspective, i’m curious how the server they were on was insecure
    (01:57:19 PM ) bradass87: you had people working 14 hours a day… every single day… no weekends… no recreation…
    (01:57:27 PM ) bradass87: people stopped caring after 3 weeks
    Career foreign service member Peter Van Buren condemned the lack of security to me. “It’s lax that no ever disabled the disk drives in the SCIF computers, and the idea that anyone could burn a disc in there is insane, and breaks every single security rule.”
    This amazing lack of “infosec” has been a major point among pundits and journalists horrified that the leaks’ information was brought to light. For those who welcome the disclosures, what is more disturbing still is how it took so long for these documents to be leaked. After all, some three million Americans have a security clearance: did none of these people who came into contact with the “Collateral Murder” video see fit to release it to the public? Until Manning’s alleged leaks, there apparently was no need for infosec measures, given how thoroughly those with a security clearance had internalized the government’s mindset.
    Back at base, Bradley Manning’s career as a soldier—his only ticket to the university education he craved—was fast disintegrating. By May 5, his superiors thought he was behaving erratically; they removed the bolt from his service rifle. He was more and more intent on gender transition, which he could only commence outside the military. On May 7, Manning slugged a female superior in the face: he was demoted back to Private First Class, sent to work in the supply room—but retained his security clearance. He was soon to be discharged, for adjustment disorder (“in lieu of ‘gender identity disorder’,” he’d later say), and he was very, very lonely.
    Pfc. Bradley Manning reached out to a stranger.

    On May 21, Bradley Manning contacted Adrian Lamo, a renowned computer hacker whose name was accidentally released in a WikiLeaks fundraising missive. Surely Lamo, a famous hacker, once convicted on felony charges for his digital mischief, would understand the greatness of Manning’s alleged achievement. Besides, Lamo was bi; he has an ex who is male-to-female transgender; he has another ex who was counterintelligence in the army. Manning and Lamo flirted a little. Manning related his life story, his aspirations, his reasons for disclosing the documents. They joked about Lamo turning Manning in to the authorities.
    What Manning didn’t know was that two days into the conversation, Lamo in fact went to the federal authorities. And his handlers were obviously feeding him questions to ask Manning—“in all seriousness, would you shoot if MP’s showed up?” On May 29, military police came to FOB Hammer to arrest Bradley Manning, who was soon taken to Kuwait for further interrogation under detention.
    For turning in Bradley Manning, Adrian Lamo has been cast both as a responsible, patriotic citizen and a duplicitous snitch. (He introduced himself to Manning as a journalist and a minister, free to take confessions in confidentiality. Was this a joke, or sarcasm? Did Manning ever believe it?) Famous as Lamo is inside hacking circles, to those outside that sphere he simply resembles other police