The World

Bradley Manning is a 23-year-old U.S. Army intelligence analyst from a small town in Oklahoma who has gained notoriety after being arrested on charges of leaking over 250,000 diplomatic cables to wikileaks.

Who is this young man, who is currently held in a Viriginia military base, awaiting trial, and why did he do what he did?

Denver Nicks is a reporter for The Daily Beast who tried to find those answers. Nicks talked to Manning’s friends, studied his Facebook page, and scoured his online chats. What he found was a man who felt strongly that he was doing the right thing.

Patrick Crowley is the director of computer engineering programs at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who shares how Manning was able to gain access to such confidential and sensitive documents.

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