A US Intelligence Officer with the United States Army was arrested in the Middle East after an ex-hacker revealed that the officer was leaking classified information to third parties. The officer felt "compelled" to disclose the "atrocities" of the United States by leaking classified information, disclosing cable lines, and providing third parties intel on operations within the middle east.
A lot of people call this officer a hero, some are calling him a traitor. I would stop short of calling him a traitor, as I believe he had no wish to harm fellow soldiers, but to disclose any back-dealings and political slime, if any, that the United States committed. Someone made this comment, and I agree with the person:
"Only an idiot would leak TS/SCI data and not expect to get caught. Kid doesn’t sound like an idiot – although he could have used some schooling on who to trust. Hope no-one ever makes the mistake of trusting Lamo again. . What Manning DOES sound like is a disillusioned young man. Probably respected his dad and his dad’s work, and thought that he himself would be proud of his country while working with its secrets. . I am guessing that what he found, and what he saw, was the kind of soul-damaging stuff that we all do not want to be true. Proof that our government is as slimy, corrupt, inept, self-serving and unjust as we all fear it is. . Having your illusions shattered may make you ‘forget’ you are under oath to keep your mouth shut, and a 22 year old just doesn’t have the life experience to deal well with that type of cognitive dissonance gracefully. You gotta figure that, at some level, he knew he was gonna go down for this, and he did it any way. Sounds like he felt he HAD to do it. . As others have pointed out, the material that was leaked may put a lot of lives in jeopardy. No way to know until it sees the light of day, if it ever does. If the info is seen, and it causes change, will it be worth his life and the lives of others that may be hurt or killed? Does it matter that our government is doing things that he felt were wrong enough that they needed to be exposed? Those are the questions I am pondering. How much is too much? . I cannot judge him, because I haven’t walked a mile in his shoes."
Whistleblowers and watchdog groups alike, no matter what they cover, can go on and on about what they do, and generally their goals are genuine: expose ethical wrongdoings within an organization. When you need to publicly announce classified information to do so, which is none of your business, you are endangering the lives of American soldiers and American citizens. Under no circumstance should classified intelligence or information be shared with a party that does not need to know, and does not have a security clearance. I don't care how righteous you need to prove you are, or how compelled you feel to share the atrocities of a nation:
Divulging classified information is illegal under military code, and it will end your future. This army officer, and the third parties divulging the classified information, are a national security threat to the United States. I seriously hope that the military plans on tightening access to classified information after this scare: If an officer breaks his oath, I don't want him protecting me, or this country. There is no high and mighty horse to protecting freedom.
Wired.com article
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