U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in Wikileaks Video Probe

Quote :

"Federal officials have arrested an Army intelligence analyst who boasted of giving classified U.S. combat video and hundreds of thousands of classified State Department records to whistleblower site Wikileaks, Wired.com has learned. SPC Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Maryland, was stationed at Forward Operating Base Hammer, 40 miles east of Baghdad, where he was arrested nearly two weeks ago by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. A family member says he’s being held in custody in Kuwait, and has not been formally charged. Manning was turned in late last month by a former computer hacker with whom he spoke online. In the course of their chats, Manning took credit for leaking a headline-making video of a helicopter attack that Wikileaks posted online in April. The video showed a deadly 2007 U.S. helicopter air strike in Baghdad that claimed the lives of several innocent civilians. He said he also leaked three other items to Wikileaks: a separate video showing the notorious 2009 Garani air strike in Afghanistan that Wikileaks has previously acknowledged is in its possession; a classified Army document evaluating Wikileaks as a security threat, which the site posted in March; and a previously unreported breach consisting of 260,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables that Manning described as exposing “almost criminal political back dealings.” “Hillary Clinton, and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack when they wake up one morning, and find an entire repository of classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format, to the public,” Manning wrote. Wired.com could not confirm whether Wikileaks received the supposed 260,000 classified embassy dispatches. To date, a single classified diplomatic cable has appeared on the site: released last February, it describes a U.S. embassy meeting with the government of Iceland. E-mail and a voice mail message left for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday were not answered by the time this article was published."

Quote :

"Manning had access to two classified networks from two separate secured laptops: SIPRNET, the Secret-level network used by the Department of Defense and the State Department, and the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System which serves both agencies at the Top Secret/SCI level. The networks, he said, were both “air gapped” from unclassified networks, but the environment at the base made it easy to smuggle data out. “I would come in with music on a CD-RW labeled with something like ‘Lady Gaga’, erase the music then write a compressed split file,” he wrote. “No one suspected a thing and, odds are, they never will.” “[I] listened and lip-synced to Lady Gaga’s ‘Telephone’ while exfiltrating possibly the largest data spillage in American history,” he added later. ”Weak servers, weak logging, weak physical security, weak counter-intelligence, inattentive signal analysis… a perfect storm.”"

Full article here: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/leak/

6/7/2010 7:50:33 AM

Hopefully they twist this fuckhead's testicles off at the court-martial.

6/7/2010 7:54:12 AM

sounds like they should fire whoever was in charge of that classified computer as well.

6/7/2010 8:11:25 AM

What exactly did he do? Because it sounds like he's a hero.

[assuming so]
If I were in a position to "blow the whistle" on military or State Department wrongdoing, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
It's a new world with the internet and stuff like Wikileaks -- The military, and government in general, better get its fucking act together, because good people will always expose the wrongdoing of bad people.

I mean, shit -- he exposed "a classified Army document evaluating Wikileaks as a security threat".
Fuck the Army if it thinks it can stop the truth from coming out.

I can't wait until Wikileaks publishes the 260,000 dispatches that expose the criminal political backroom dealings we all suspect take place.
If they have it, they will publish it. Wikileaks, for the win.

(ps. I love America as much and perhaps more than most. Exposing government or military crimes is not treasonous.)
[/assuming so]

6/7/2010 8:14:45 AM

I'm at least as concerned about why he brought up Hillary and the country's diplomats. "Almost criminal political back dealings?" What was his motive for leaking the documents and video? To get at a political party, or... ?

6/7/2010 8:26:57 AM

Fry this motherfucker. Rosenbaums: the sequel.

6/7/2010 8:46:13 AM

^That would be RosenBERG

Quote :

"Hopefully they twist this fuckhead's testicles off at the court-martial."

[Edited on June 7, 2010 at 8:52 AM. Reason : lol]

6/7/2010 8:48:59 AM

Sounds like he did us a favor

6/7/2010 8:51:28 AM

Granted, he's shown that he HAS testicles.

6/7/2010 9:09:20 AM

Innocent until proven guilty, amirite? The kid could just be bragging for moves he never made. I mean, does he really look like a Lady GaGa fan?

6/7/2010 9:22:51 AM

Leaking classified embassy cables potentially puts hundreds, if not thousands, of state department and CIA personnel at risk. Fuck that.

6/7/2010 10:03:32 AM

wtf double post

[Edited on June 7, 2010 at 10:10 AM. Reason : .]

6/7/2010 10:09:25 AM

Leaking classified embassy cables that reveal wrongdoing potentially puts hundreds, if not thousands, of law breaking state department and CIA personnel at risk in jail.

6/7/2010 10:13:56 AM

That may well be, but I'd sincerely prefer that sort of decision not be in the hands some some punk 22yo kid, who may have dubious motives.

6/7/2010 10:23:53 AM

Who then? The alleged wrongdoers themselves?

6/7/2010 10:30:04 AM

I don't care who exposes it or why. It doesn't change what happened, or the fact that it was hidden.

6/7/2010 10:37:32 AM

Do you not suppose that there's an equal possibility of causing damage to a variety of important things here? Think about all the things that could be affected or compromised by what this kid allegedly did:

* Signals and methods information available for anyone
* Encryption methods freely available
* Names and details of possibly covert foreign officers and informants
* Thoughts and policy formulations and background data


Some of those are more important than others, granted. But also consider that this kid could put be putting some of our nation's covert communications methods and private policy discussions available for all to see. There's a reason why that stuff is legitimately kept away from the public, and it serves the nation's interest for it to stay that way. Half of the reason we have a CIA, NSA, DIA, etc., is to crack open similar stuff from foreign countries.

You might say that you have to crack a few eggs in order to make an omelette. Fine. What this kid allegedly did is more like turning over the keys to the world's largest chicken farm.

6/7/2010 10:38:05 AM

^
Nah, he just broke some eggs.
And you're right -- we don't know if he's right... he might create more risk of damage than he does actual justice.
I guess we'll see what happens. Or not. The story might go mysteriously silent.

6/7/2010 10:47:12 AM

yea, just like this kid is about to go

6/7/2010 11:04:48 AM

Quote :

"I can't wait until Wikileaks publishes the 260,000 dispatches that expose the criminal political backroom dealings we all suspect take place."

you mean almost criminal, right? Because unless you've reviewed said dispatches and evaluated them against the law, all you have is what the guy who leaked them said, and he went no further than qualifying them as "almost criminal" whereas what he did was absolutely criminal.


However, I think leaking the combat video of the helicopter attack was a good thing, and clearly showed the public the fucked up shit that we do that most people assumed to be the case. Leaking the document classifying wikileaks as a threat isn't a big deal either, hell that's comical.

The embassy dispatches, however, was seriously fucked up. Regardless of the possibility that it reveals some criminal behavior, it certainly puts innocent lives at risk, and he should be prosecuted for that.

6/7/2010 11:52:53 AM

Quote :

"I can't wait until Wikileaks publishes the 260,000 dispatches that expose the criminal political backroom dealings we all suspect take place. If they have it, they will publish it. Wikileaks, for the win."

not necessarily. wikileaks might rather not deal with a court battle that would be sure to take place. a video is one thing... 260,000 dispatches that expose so many people to possible harm abroad isn't something that they'll take lightly.

you seem to be going on the assumption that this 22 year old kid who went in, stole information and then boasted about it to some hacker is able to discern what is criminal activity within these dispatches. there's no doubt that there's a possibility that there could be some shit going down, but to assume that all of these dispatches contain some kind of information linking high profile administration officials to criminal activity is asinine.

he'll be going to leavenworth soon enough i'm sure.

6/7/2010 12:02:45 PM

He's lucky. In the old days he'd be executed for exposing an empire's corruption.

6/7/2010 1:28:11 PM

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"If I were in a position to "blow the whistle" on military or State Department wrongdoing, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

I'd rather not go to jail over some bullshit that won't make a damn bit of difference.

6/7/2010 2:11:32 PM

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"sounds like they should fire whoever was in charge of that classified computer as well."

There's no possible way any system administrator or whatever could stop someone cleared for and having access to the system from leaking the information. It would be as simple as burning a CD with the classified material, then putting it into an unclassified computer and sending it out.

Quote :

"[/assuming so]"

OK, my first reaction was to utterly tear your post apart and call you a moron, but I'll work under the assumption that you just misunderstand the subject in several ways:

Furthermore, let me add the context that I am (1) a USMC officer, (2) I have a TOP SECRET clearance, (3) I handle lots of classified material EVERY single day and have done so for years, and (4) I am not a batshit crazy anarchist or capital-"L" Libertarian, but I am pro-civil liberties and generally very pro-limited government.


1. It is counter to federal policy--read: illegal--to classify things for the purpose of covering up wrongdoing, ineptitude, etc.

2. I have personally never once seen this policy violated (and I can just about guarantee that it would be above the SECRET level if it was), and I think that there are inherent factors that discourage this (the paper trail and audits of classified material, for example, and probably most of all, the fact that someone might be a whistleblower, and that classifying stuff for this reason discredits the integrity of the classification system.)

3. The SECRET classification of the Apache video in question is routine--the classification does not imply anything about whether or not anything illegal, unethical, or questionable in any way is contained in the footage. Any such video like that is classified SECRET, unless it's specifically reviewed and declassified for release. On numerous occasions, I've had the LITENING pod (EO/IR) on the Prowler while flying over Baghdad. We didn't shoot anything--hell, we never carried any ordnance over there...just jamming pods and occasionally the LITENING pod. All the footage we recorded over there was SECRET, just by default.

(as a side note, if you take the targeting pod out for training in the States, I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to record with it...or maybe you're allowed to if you destroy the footage when you're done with the training. I can't remember--I've never had any reason to record in the States, so it hasn't been an issue I've checked closely into. At any rate, it's at least heavily restricted, due to privacy considerations and our protections against unauthorized search & seizure...even if you're just going out and tracking cars on the highway or something for practice.)

4. An article evaluating Wikileaks as a potential threat would be pretty normal for intel guys. There is nothing at all scary or malevolent about that. I've seen classified intel stuff on things way more innocuous than that--I'm telling you, 95% of SECRET stuff is not juicy info or cool to the average person. It's just data lots of times(exact performance specs of weapons, frequencies and parametrics)...or sometimes intel can be just like a glorified newspaper article--just by virtue of the fact that it's "our official best guess", it has to be classified (though sometimes the intel guys will come up with some really badass info).

On top of all that, even if they evaluated Wikileaks to be a legitimate threat, I would be really surprised if there was any clandestine effort to take down the organization as a result. I'll bet money that the point of the article was just to practice good OPSEC and keep an eye out for anything not passing the "smell test".

Finally, Wikileaks DID publicize classified information--so whatever extent they were evaluated as a threat was correct, it seems.

Quote :

"Innocent until proven guilty, amirite? The kid could just be bragging for moves he never made."

True.

Quote :

"However, I think leaking the combat video of the helicopter attack was a good thing, and clearly showed the public the fucked up shit that we do that most people assumed to be the case."

War is fucked up and nasty, but read through that gigantic long-ass thread on that video. I think that once you hear the whole story, you'll agree that it might be distasteful, but probably not illegal or unethical. Shooting the truck (van?) is really the only part that's even slightly questionable, but I'd say very far from being clearly wrong.

Quote :

"I'd rather not go to jail over some bullshit that won't make a damn bit of difference."

It could make a difference, and if I was privy to such information, I'd be very inclined to act on it. Hell, you might even be spared based on the fact that you were trying to do the right thing, but I'd (a) rather not test that theory, (b) not want to take a chance on divulging potentially harmful classified information even if it seemed harmless to me--it's amazing what can be exploited, and (c) there's a better way, anyway--I'd probably contact the Inspector General, consulting with JAG if necessary.



[Edited on June 7, 2010 at 2:46 PM. Reason : ]

6/7/2010 2:41:49 PM

Quote :

"read through that gigantic long-ass thread on that video"

I don't know... I think we should have that same discussion again right here in this thread. It's for the best.

6/7/2010 2:59:31 PM

Oh hell no.

6/7/2010 3:01:12 PM

duke is there a classified doc on the threat level of tdub?

6/7/2010 3:03:44 PM

ha, not that i've ever seen.

a bigger threat would be stuff like http://www.airwarriors.com or other military sites where people might accidentally spill classified info (or talk about unclassified stuff that doesn't necessarily need to be all over the internet)

6/7/2010 3:06:11 PM

Quote :

"Hopefully they twist this fuckhead's testicles off at the court-martial."

lol, why? Because he had the courage to stand up and expose all the wrong doings of the military or because you are in the military and your internet is monitored?

6/7/2010 3:15:58 PM

jesus christ, did you read the rest of the page? like, the part with my other post?

6/7/2010 3:18:15 PM

I skimmed through it but I was distracted by your barbaric first post.

6/7/2010 3:22:37 PM

He released combat video and state department records. Of those, I think the state department material is far more problematic.

[Edited on June 7, 2010 at 3:29 PM. Reason : oops]

6/7/2010 3:28:49 PM

I prefer to think of it as righteous indignation.

Look, I'd be right there with you if he was being a whistleblower...but he wasn't. He was, at best, being a horribly misguided fuckhead douche taking improperly part in very damaging activities that were FAR beyond his tiny scope of understanding.

and even if he was crying foul on anything that legitimately deserved it, he did it in the worst possible way, when there were acceptable channels he could've handled this through.

Fuck him. He decided to swim in the deep end, and now he's going to quite deservedly pay a huge price.

6/7/2010 3:29:39 PM

^ exactly. just like the flotilla "peace protestors"... you swim in the deep end, you might drown.

6/7/2010 3:39:43 PM

Yep--they went in looking to poke the lion and get a reaction, and got exactly what they should've expected. Fucking morons.

I haven't yet studied up on all of the legalities surrounding the incident, but in any case, I think it was an incredibly stupid move on the part of both sides.

6/7/2010 3:49:31 PM

Siding with terrorists now? scary thought.

6/7/2010 3:52:49 PM

?

6/7/2010 3:54:07 PM

Not that he hates America, he's just at a party and he's sick and tired of his phone ri-ri-ringing.

6/7/2010 4:03:16 PM

Duke doesn't deserve this level of insult. Taking the conversation to PMs.

[Edited on June 7, 2010 at 4:27 PM. Reason : .]

6/7/2010 4:09:52 PM

I work on the cleared floor of my building with a lot of Col's and LTC's, and someone posted this story up on the bulletin board in our activity hub, with the word "TRAITOR" scrawled across it in Sharpie.

6/7/2010 4:21:30 PM

^^ The analogy to soldiers and IEDs is way off.


Look, in my opinion, this wasn't about standing up to the IDF. This was about provoking an overreaction from Israel (who, as usual, stupidly played along to their own detriment, regardless of the legality or whatever else--they missed the forest for the trees, as they have a terrible habit of doing).

...but what a stupid way to die.

6/7/2010 4:29:16 PM

Even if they failed with no chance of even partial success (affecting policy in any tangible way) what they did was not necessarily stupid. It's a foreign mindset, but it's not stupid.

6/7/2010 4:31:55 PM

OK...fair enough. I will accept that as at least "arguable", though still squarely within the "stupid" category from my vantage point.

6/7/2010 4:39:54 PM

Obviously they didn't actually think they were going to get through the blockade, so the only reason to do it at all was for publicity. And its just about the worst goddamn thing you could do if trying to get support for ending US aid in Israel. Maybe its helpful in the local region, but in the US that shit is just "some a-rab turrists attacking a jew democracy" . Jews are basically 1/2 christian so they're always going to beat out the arabs for support in this country.

[Edited on June 7, 2010 at 4:47 PM. Reason : y]

6/7/2010 4:47:20 PM

Quote :

"Jews are basically 1/2 christian so they're always going to beat out the arabs for support in this country. "

Arab Christians are only 1/4 Christian I guess

6/7/2010 4:50:16 PM

All arabs are muslim. Christian arab is an oxymoron in the eyes of the american people. Jews, on the other hand, are just christians who haven't yet accepted our lord and savior jesus christ

6/7/2010 4:53:36 PM

What about the majority of Israeli jews who are Mizrachi?

6/7/2010 4:56:17 PM

What about, like, Afghan Jews?

By the way, there are a significant number of them in the States, but only one remaining in Afghanistan, as best as we can tell (and he actually apparently coexists with most of his Muslim neighbors quite well).

By the way, the vast majority of Muslims respect members of other Abrahamic religions as being "people of the book". A minority fight us and on the surface, appear to be true, die-hard extremists... but they are still not incorrigable.

Then there is the tiniest minority which must be ruthlessly exterminated. The trick is to seperate them from that 2nd group, and not create more members of that 2nd group in the process of reducing the 3rd group into little bitty pieces.

[Edited on June 7, 2010 at 4:57 PM. Reason : ]

6/7/2010 4:56:25 PM

We can exterminate the 3rd group without oppressing and discriminating against the first two. As soon as America realizes this we'll be a little bit closer to great.

6/7/2010 4:58:29 PM

Quote :

"What about the majority of Israeli jews who are Mizrachi?"

those are just standard jews. unless they live outside europe, the us, or israel. If they live in the middle east they are arab(muslim) and if they live in africa or asia they are other/misc.

6/7/2010 4:59:32 PM