mikeg's blog

The Leaker
SPC Manning has not been tried or convicted of anything as of this writing, but let's proceed anyway and discuss The (hypothetical) Leaker in general. The Leaker did a very brave thing in my personal estimation. Comparisons have been drawn between the video/cables and the Pentagon Papers, and those comparisons are fairly accurate, particularly in regard to the effect of the leak on the mindset of the American People.
The Leaker acted in the best interests of their conscience and in defense of the Public's Right to Know - A fundamental tenet of our democracy made manifest in the Freedom of Information Act and in at least the case of the Collateral Murder video wholly ignored by the Military in flagrant violation of that act.

Regarding SPC Manning specifically: Well, he bragged about being the leaker. Maybe he was, or maybe he was just talking shit.
If SPC Manning was the leaker in these cases he committed the ultimate bonehead move for someone who leaked classified information and broke rule #1: Keep your damnfool mouth shut. Much like in the Pentagon Papers case, a crime was most certainly committed, and the law must decide who is guilty of what, and what punishment should be meted out.

Lamo Outing Manning
Assuming for the sake of argument that Manning is The Leaker (which Lamo obviously has reason to believe if he went and said so), Lamo is now in an interesting position: He is aware of the commission of a felony because Manning has told him about it. By NOT reporting Manning he would become an accessory (after the fact) to that felony. Compound that with the fact that the data leaked was classified, presumably sensitive enough that the government didn't want it out in the open, and you have a very difficult moral choice to make. This choice is usually two-pronged: Was the leak justified and Do you trust the leaker's judgment in the future - I've faced that choice myself and it's not easy. Lamo had a third prong that makes it even harder: Is it worth shielding a leaker who is publicly bragging about what they've done. I've never had to deal with that.

I'm not going to second-guess Lamo's actions. I honestly don't know what I would do in this case. I take it as a given that he acted as his conscience dictated for his own reasons, just as we can assume The Leaker did. If Manning is The Leaker then Lamo only served to accelerate a process set in motion when the first public boast was made.

Everything Else
Lamo has criticized the opsec lapses around this mess, and here I agree with him wholeheartedly. Proper opsec practices would have protected The Leaker's identity. The Military would bluster and rage, but nothing could come of it because they wouldn't be able to pin down who leaked the information.
There is a lesson in this for anyone leaking classified information (unless you want to be tied to the leak for notoriety or political purposes). I'm sure there is also a lesson in this for Wikileaks somewhere, but it's less obvious to me.