Manning Before WikiLeaks

Alleged Army whistle-blower Pvt. Bradley Manning appeared at a pretrial hearing this week, only the third time he has been seen by the public since he was arrested two years ago. As the defense, prosecution and court officials reviewed the charges against Manning, author and reporter Denver Nicks spoke about Manning’s life before the arrest.

Nicks, author of the new book “Private: Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks, and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History” told “Democracy Now!”:

“The Bradley Manning story is one of—easily one of the most important stories of the last decade, certainly. In many ways, Bradley Manning’s story is the story of the United States in the post-9/11 era. Bradley Manning’s life is sort of quintessentially American, in that he was—he’s gay at a time when gay rights goes mainstream. He joins the Army—and as an intelligence analyst, no less—at a time when the national security state really starts to metastasize into something that we have never seen before. And, of course, his life intersects with this sort of out-of-control growth in the secrecy state that has existed since 9/11. It’s a hugely important story, and I wanted to tell it from the beginning and get into Manning’s life and who he is.”

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.Democracy Now!: