The Rise and Fall of Bradley Manning: A WikiLeaker's Timeline

Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old U.S. Army soldier accused of leaking classified documents and videos to the website WikiLeaks, has been charged with 12 counts in total, the military announced today. Pfc. Manning is being held in Kuwait and will face an Article 32 investigation, or military grand jury.

Surge Desk has compiled a timeline detailing the series of events leading up to the charges against him today, including the WikiLeaks video "Collateral Murder" and the involvement and betrayal of hacker Adrian Lamo.

November 2009: Manning contacts Assange for the first time.
When Manning first contacted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange last fall, he was an Army specialist working as an intelligence analyst at Forward Operating Base Hammer, 40 miles outside of Baghdad.

He had read a WikiLeaks post that revealed 500,000 pager messages from a 24-hour period around Sept. 11, 2001. He recognized the messages as coming from a National Security Agency database and got in touch with Assange about them, he later told Lamo, a 29-year-old hacker-turned-journalist who turned Manning in to authorities in May.

Late 2009: Manning discovers the helicopter attack video.
Toward the end of the year, Manning discovered the now-infamous video of an American Apache helicopter attack on a group of men in Baghdad in 2007. The attack killed at least 18 people, including two Reuters employees, photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and driver Saeed Chmagh, and injured two children.

Reuters had tried to get a copy of the video through the Freedom of Information Act, but was not successful.

Manning took note of the video, which seemed commonplace at first, because it was stored in a JAG officer's computer directory, he told Lamo.

January 2010: Manning tells a friend he is considering leaking classified information.
Returning to the U.S. for leave, Manning visited a friend, Tyler Watkins, 20, in Boston, and admitted that he had classified information and was considering leaking it.

"He wanted to do the right thing," Watkins told Wired. "That was something I think he was struggling with."

February 2010: Manning allegedly leaks the 2007 video and other information to WikiLeaks.

Feb. 18, 2010: WikiLeaks publishes the "Reykjavik 13" cable.
WikiLeaks posted on its website a classified cable from Sam Watson, deputy chief of mission at the American Embassy in Reykjavik, to Washington, outlining the details of a meeting with Icelandic government officials and the British ambassador to Iceland, Ian Whiting.

Later, Manning reportedly would use the so-called "Reykjavik 13" cable as an example of the type of information he had leaked, when talking to Lamo on instant messenger. He wrote, "the result of that one was that the icelandic ambassador to the US was recalled, and fired."

April 5, 2010: WikiLeaks releases "Collateral Murder."
In the spring, after analyzing and editing the 2007 Apache helicopter attack video and verifying its veracity, WikiLeaks published its version, "Collateral Murder," on its own website. The video is posted below.



Early May 2010: Manning is demoted for punching a colleague in the face.

May 21, 2010: Manning contacts Lamo.
Manning reaches out to renowned hacker Lamo, who lives in California, by e-mail. In their initial instant messenger conversation, Manning asks, "If you had unprecedented access to classified networks 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 8+ months, what would you do?"

May 22, 2010: Manning says he sent Assange 260,000 classified State Department cables.
WikiLeaks has denied receiving the cables.

Manning also told Lamo that he felt isolated:

(1:39:03 PM) Manning: i cant believe what im confessing to you :'(
(1:40:20 PM) Manning: ive been so isolated so long... i just wanted to be nice, and live a normal life... but events kept forcing me to figure out ways to survive... smart enough to know whats going on, but helpless to do anything... no-one took any notice of me

May 25, 2010: Manning explains why he decided to become a leaker.
Manning told Lamo that he decided he couldn't stand idly by after an incident he was directly involved in. He was investigating 15 detainees who were arrested by the Iraqi Federal Police for allegedly printing "anti-Iraqi literature." He discovered that the literature was actually a "scholarly critique" of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But when he explained it to his officer he was told to forget about it and figure out how to help the Iraqi police find more detainees instead.

(02:36:27 PM) Manning: everything started slipping after that... i saw things differently
(02:37:37 PM) Manning: i had always questioned the things worked, and investigated to find the truth... but that was a point where i was a *part* of something... i was actively involved in something that i was completely against...

In the ensuing chat, Manning described how easy it was to copy the classified information onto a CD. He told Lamo he simply wrote the name of a Lady Gaga album on the blank CD and then, "listened and lip-synced to Lady Gaga's Telephone while exfiltratrating possibly the largest data spillage in american history."

He also described feeling like "an abused work horse" and said he was "regularly ignored... except when i had something essential... then it was back to 'bring me coffee, then sweep the floor...'"

May 26, 2010: Army arrests Manning.
At some point early on in their conversations, Lamo made the decision to turn Manning in to the authorities, citing worries for his family and for national security.

Early June: Pentagon begins Assange hunt.
It was revealed in early June that the Pentagon was trying to find the elusive Assange, who has no home and who maintains very strict secrecy for himself and his organization. In an interview with the Daily Beast, vaunted leaker Daniel Ellsberg said he expected Assange was in danger, but argued that his work is important to society.

"[Assange] is doing very good work for our democracy. If [the alleged leaker, Bradley Manning] has done what he is alleged to have done, I congratulate him. He has used his opportunities very well. He has upheld his oath of office to support the Constitution. It so happens that enlisted men also take an oath to obey the orders of superiors. Officers don't make that oath, only to the Constitution. But sometimes the oath to the Constitution and oath to superiors are in conflict."

The Next Leak? Granai air strike video to be released.
In May 2009, an air strike near the Afghan village of Granai killed 140 civilians, including 92 children, according to the local government. The military initially said it would show journalists a video of the attack, but later refused.

During their conversations, Manning told Lamo he had leaked this video to Assange as well. WikiLeaks is reportedly close to releasing the video.