In May 2010, an intelligence analyst in the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division was arrested on suspicion of leaking nearly half a million classified government documents, including the infamous “Collateral Murder” gunsight video and 260,000 State Department cables. After nine months in solitary confinement, the suspect now awaits court-martial in Fort Leavenworth. He is twenty-four, comes from Crescent, Oklahoma and his name is Bradley Manning. Who is Private First Class Bradley Manning? Why did he allegedly commit the largest security breach in American history–and why was it so easy? Is Manning a traitor or a whistleblower? Is long-term isolation an outrage to American values–or the new norm? Are the leaks revolutionary or a sensational nonevent? Which is the greater security threat, routinized elite secrecy or flashes of transparency? And what impact does new information really have? The astonishing leaks attributed to Bradley Manning are viewed from many angles, from Tunisia to Guantánamo Bay, from Foggy Bottom to Baghdad to small-town Oklahoma. Around the world, the eloquent alleged act of one young man obliges citizens to ask themselves if they have the right to know what their government is doing.
Bradley Manning was arrested, imprisoned in solitary confinement for nine months, and court-martialed for leaking nearly half a million classified government documents, including the infamous "Collateral Murder" gunsight video. He was an intelligence analyst in the US Army's 10th Mountain Division, is twenty-four, and comes from Crescent, Oklahoma. But who is Private First Class Bradley Manning? Why did he commit the largest security breach in American history-and why was it so easy? In this book, the astonishing leaks attributed to Bradley Manning are viewed from many angles, from Tunisia to Guantnamo Bay, from Foggy Bottom to Baghdad to small-town Oklahoma. Around the world, the eloquent act of one young man obliges citizens to ask themselves if they have the right to know what their government is doing.
Presents the life of the soldier who committed a massive national security breach by releasing thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks, exploring the influence of his political views and gender identity issues on his actions.
The 2010 release of US embassy diplomatic cables put WikiLeaks into the international spotlight. Revelations by the leaks sparked intense debate within international diplomacy, journalism and society. This book reflects on the implications of WikiLeaks across politics and media, and on the results of leak journalism and transparency activism.
It was the biggest leak in history. WikiLeaks infuriated the world's greatest superpower, embarrassed the British royal family and helped cause a revolution in Africa. The man behind it was Julian Assange, one of the strangest figures ever to become a worldwide celebrity. Was he an internet messiah or a cyber-terrorist? Information freedom fighter or sex criminal? The debate would echo around the globe as US politicians called for his assassination. Award-winning Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding have been at the centre of a unique publishing drama that involved the release of some 250,000 secret diplomatic cables and classified files from the Afghan and Iraq wars. At one point the platinum-haired hacker was hiding from the CIA in David Leigh's London house. Now, together with the paper's investigative reporting team, Leigh and Harding reveal the startling inside story of the man and the leak.
"Greg Mitchell and Kevin Gosztola have provided, from the start, some of the most important coverage of WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning. They have shone a bright light on Manning's courageous whistle-blowing and brutal incarceration--and now in this timely and vital book they raise many serious questions surrounding all of that, and the new legal maneuvers against him." -- DANIEL ELLSBERG The first book of its kind, "Truth and Consequences" probes not just the life and worldwide impact of Bradley Manning--the U.S. Army private accused of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks--but also the current legal proceedings against him. This new edition updates the Manning case, and events surrounding it, right up to the start of his trial in early June 2013. The dramatic and often surprising story is written by the two reporters who have followed his case, from the beginning, perhaps more closely than any other journalists. The book--also available as an e-book--could not be more timely and closely observed. Kevin Gosztola was one of the few reporters to attend most of the key hearings since December 2011. Manning faces a life sentence for allegedly "aiding the enemy." His incarceration, often under inhumane conditions, and legal case have inspired international attention and protest. "Truth and Consequences" is written by award-winning author Greg Mitchell, whose daily blog on WikiLeaks for The Nation magazine and book "The Age of WikiLeaks" gained a wide following, and Kevin Gosztola, who writes for a popular blog at Firedoglake.com, "The Dissenter." The new book includes most of Mitchell's earlier volume, "Bradley Manning" as Part I -- and then an equally in-depth Part II by Gosztola on all of the legal moves against Manning. Now, in the second edition, they bring the story fully up to date. Can Manning get a fair trial? Will he? Will Julian Assange's legal problems get much worse if he is personally tied to Manning? This book raises provocative issues that must be addressed. The book traces Manning from his childhood in Oklahoma to Baghdad, where he was arrested in May 2010 and charged with sending to WikiLeaks explosive secret reports relating to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and diplomatic cables exposing sensitive U.S. relations around the world. Then they probe the controversy that swirled around Manning's harsh treatment in the brig at the Marine base in Quantico, Va., and demonstrations all over the world -- even as some pundits and politicians in the U.S. called for Manning's execution. The book then follows the Manning story right up to June 2013, as Gosztola analyzes the legal maneuvering and Mitchell probes the weak media coverage and other issues.
In December 2010, Julian Assange signed a contract with Canongate Books to write a book – part memoir, part manifesto – for publication the following year. At the time, Julian said: ‘I hope this book will become one of the unifying documents of our generation. In this highly personal work, I explain our global struggle to force a new relationship between the people and their governments.’ In the end, the work was to prove too personal. Despite sitting for more than fifty hours of taped interviews and spending many late nights at Ellingham Hall (where he was living under house arrest) discussing his life and the work of WikiLeaks with the writer he had enlisted to help him, Julian became increasingly troubled by the thought of publishing an autobiography. After reading the first draft of the book at the end of March, Julian declared: ‘All memoir is prostitution.’ In June 2011, with thirty-eight publishing houses around the world committed to releasing the book, Julian told us he wanted to cancel his contract. We disagree with Julian’s assessment of the book. We believe it explains both the man and his work, underlining his commitment to the truth. Julian always claimed the book was well written; we agree, and this also encouraged us to make the book available to readers. And the contract? By the time Julian wanted to cancel the deal he had already used the advance money to settle his legal bills. So the contract still stands. We have decided to honour it – and to publish. This book is the unauthorised first draft. It is passionate, provocative and opinionated – like its author. It fulfils the promise of the original proposal and we are proud to publish it. Canongate Books, September 2011
Depending on the source, Julian Assange, the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, is regarded as either a genius or terrorist, and this exploration of the man and the organization seeks to find the truth. Delving into the heart of the business of keeping and leaking secrets, this work shows how the enterprise of WikiLeaks and Assange is shrouded in mystery, but nonetheless, seeks to expose Assange as an intelligence asset tasked with sustaining the global status quo. Through careful analysis, interviews, and scrutiny of the organization as a whole, this inquiry gets to the bottom of the intriguing and mesmerizing story behind WikiLeaks.
