Yesterday's Leftovers For 6/7/10: The Fascinating Arrest Of Bradley Manning

As some of you may have heard last night, Wired.com's reporters Kevin Poulsen and Kim Zetter broke the story last night of the arrest of the man who provided Wikileaks video of the Collateral Damage 2007 Iraq video that made headlines a few months ago and embarrassed the US Military.

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 getting comparisons in the lines of the legendary Daniel Ellsburg. And quotes like this one highlight the pure element of "humanity" and the "human soul" in its most maximum effect:

“If you had unprecedented access to classified networks 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 8+ months, what would you do?” Manning asked.

The man that turned him in also has a telling perspective to offer:

“I wouldn’t have done this if lives weren’t in danger,” says Lamo, who discussed the details with Wired.com following Manning’s arrest. “He was in a war zone and basically trying to vacuum up as much classified information as he could, and just throwing it up into the air.”

That is the painful dangers of war, especially illegal wars where brave soldiers have to fight because their cowardly leaders don't have the obvious guts to it themselves. Situation like the one that Manning leaked will arise and have embarrassing effects for this nation, because wrong is wrong, no matter who committed the crime.

What Manning did may make some believe he is a "traitor" and "hates his own country." But the wrong person here is still the liars who led this nation into even going over to Baghdad. How many more times do we have to rehash the story again to know who are the real ones who put "lives in danger"?

Finally, a quote so striking, from this 22 year old now arrested, hits the soul:

“Everywhere there’s a U.S. post, there’s a diplomatic scandal that will be revealed,” Manning wrote. “It’s open diplomacy. World-wide anarchy in CSV format. It’s Climategate with a global scope, and breathtaking depth. It’s beautiful, and horrifying.”

It is truly the open times that we live, where it is becoming ever more difficult to keep stuff clandestine.