http://www.alternet.org/story/149458/9_essential_questions_about_bradley_manning_and_wikileaksHow did Manning contact Lamo in the first place?Lamo told Yahoo! News that Manning found him by making a Twitter search on WikiLeaks and contacted him out of the blue on an open AOL Instant Messenger chat. To Greenwald, however, Lamo claimed that Manning had initially contacted him through a number of encrypted emails. Lamo refuses to release these emails. If they exist it is reasonable to assume they contain proof that Lamo promised Manning confidentiality. Lamo compromised this assumable promise by turning Manning over to the authorities.
Why did Lamo inform the FBI?Lamo has claimed he acted out of sheer concern with national security. He told the Australian journalist Patrick Gray, from Risky Busyness, that he tried to prevent the lives of other human beings from being seriously and adversely effected by the leakage of classified material. The justification rings hollow considering Lamo himself is a longtime hacker convicted of a felony. Even more bizarre is the fact that Lamo, a couple of months prior to leaking the story, donated money to WikiLeaks and expressed his support for the organization. So if Lamo's concern with homeland security is true it brings up another question.
Why did Lamo leak the chat logs to Wired?According to his own statement, Lamo wanted to ensure that Manning was painted as a human being rather than a terrorist before arrested by the U.S. authorities. The statement rings hollow in light of the curious connection between Lamo and Kevin Poulsen, Wired's senior editor, investigated by Greenwald. Poulsen is not only a journalist but also, like Lamo, a previous hacker convicted of a felony and sentenced to three years in jail. Throughout his hacking career, Lamo went to Poulsen for coverage of his activities. When Lamo had successfully hacked a company, he informed Poulsen, who then went to the company with information about the break-in, offered Lamo's cooperation and afterward reported the hacking incident in the news. Lamo thus used Poulsen to carry out his hacking adventures while Poulsen took advantage of Lamo as insider source from the hacking world. The fact that Lamo leaked the chat logs not only to the FBI, but also to Wired suggests the desire for media attention played a role in Lamo's actions. Leaked to Poulsen only 25 percent of the logs made it to the public. Next question arises:
What is in the unpublished logs?Poulsen and Lamo both confirmed to Greenwald that Lamo placed no restrictions on publishing the chat logs in their entirety. Poulsen, however, refuses to publish the remaining 75 percent, claiming they contain irrelevant personal stuff about Manning in addition to information that would jeopardize national security if released. It seems unreasonable that Poulsen alone should make that decision and begs for the examination of the material by a third party. The remaining chat logs might hold the key to some of the unanswered questions above, e.g. how Manning first contacted Lamo; if Lamo promised Manning confidentiality; and if the chat gave Lamo sound reason to believe Manning was a threat to national security.
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