Thursday, May 26, 2011

WikiLeaks: Bradley Manning's forgotten Facebook page

PBS.orga

By Helen A.S. Popkin

Arguably, we know way too much about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.a

Since the largest leak of classified information in American history, we've learned the accused sexual predator doesn't care for American women — at least according to his alleged OKCupid profile. Assange thinks of himself as a "grown up enfant terrible," according to his CouchSurfing.org profile. From the book "Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website," we know he steals Ovaltine, torments housecats and insults perfectly ironed pleats. And thanks to viral videos, we are burdened with the knowledge that Assange dances like nobody's watching and is the worst house guest. Ever.a

For all the Internet ephemera Assange left behind, there seemed to be a dearth of online artifacts attached to Bradley Manning, the Army private who was arrested for allegedly providing WikiLeaks with the classified trove, which included footage of the July 2007 Baghdad airstrike and 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables.a

That changed yesterday.a

In conjunction with the Frontline premier, "WikiSecrets: The inside story of Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and the largest intelligence breach in U.S. history," PBS.org posted edited and annotated version of Manning's Facebook account, which spans from July 2007 to June 2010:a

Manning's Facebook postings are a vivid, if partial, portrait of his life in the military and of the political and social issues that he followed closely. They reflect his commitment to gay rights and defiance of the military's ban on openly gay or lesbian soldiers. They track the anguish in his personal life. And they conclude with an entry, put up in Manning’s name by his aunt, explaining his arrest with a link to a WikiLeaks website.a

PBS.orga

Anyone with even the vaguest self-awareness would not want to be judged solely on the content of his or her Facebook profile, and the Frontline episode (which you can watch online) does an admirable job of rounding out Manning as a person. Within three years of updates, Manning moves from a job at Starbucks to his time in the military.a

Manning's status updates ponder why pizza isn't delivered 24/7 or mention now he hates the rain, and there is the obligatory "meh" status.  He notes "we received our first combat casualty on Thursday" with a frowny-face emoticon and openly laments the end of a relationship. Essentially, he comes off as what the 23-year old was at the time: very young.a

Manning, who has yet to face charges, was held in maximum-custody solitary confinement from July 2010 to April 2011, in conditions described as "degrading and inhumane." The Pentagon moved him to a medium-security facility in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., following concern from Amnesty International and a letter signed by 295 American legal scholars that stated the conditions of Manning's confinement violated the Constitution.a

Related:a

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