Al Jazeera’s Monica Villamizar got an interview with Adrian Lamo, who reported Bradley Manning to the U.S. government, handing over online chat logs in which Manning allegedly confessed to leaking classified information to WikiLeaks.
Lamo claims he has received threats since he has become “one of the most hated figures in cyberspace.”
Lamo shed some light on the complexity of his position, too. Clearly, Manning trusted Lamo a great deal, sharing such damning details with him. So why did Lamo turn him in?
“I took no joy in it, it was not the right choice, it wasn’t the wrong choice, there was no right or wrong choice,” he says, adding, “I wish I could have been a friend to Bradley.”
Lamo says he did it because he “felt a responsibility as a witness to a crime, essentially,” and that his primary concern was “the well-being of the individuals who could have been harmed by the information released by private Manning.”
The Q&A also touches on the controversy surrounding the chat logs (in which Glenn Greenwald called for Wired – the sole possessor of the complete logs – to publish them, and Wired refused). Lamo says he no longer has the complete logs, and that only Wired has them. Wired has published excerpts from the logs, but they are not available in their entirety.
Lamo says that such a release would “be, essentially, on the same level as Mr. Manning in revealing information that not only am I not entitled to have, but that no one in this room is.” An odd comment, considering Lamo was a participant in these conversations.