In Her Request For A Pardon, Manning Said:

[struggle4progress]

29. The credibility of the sentiments ought to be judged in context. Manning

joined the military by choice, although it does not seem finally to have been a happy match. In chats with Lamo, Manning indicated that a separation from the military for gender dysphoria was pending and spoke of being shocked by some material encountered

However, although the Army from time to time, has soldiers who discover themselves to be conscientious objectors to war, in Manning's case there is apparently no history of such a claim -- which seems somewhat odd, if overwhelming disgust and horror at the inhumanity of combat, and the behavior of some soldiers in combat, were a major motive

There is also the peculiarity of the release: the diplomatic cables, for example, do not have any immediately obvious bearing on the Iraq war, or any other issues Manning raised in the recent pardon-request statement, since some date from as early as 1966. Since Manning could not possibly have read most of the material released, the motive must have been something different than exposing particular issues, and one natural guess is that the soldier simply downloaded whatever was easy to grab. Given Manning's personal isolation in Iraq and continuing desire for close friendship with some Boston-area hackers, a second natural guess is that the soldier had hoped the Wikileaks dump would impress hacker friends. And given Manning's history of psychological difficulties, the pardon statement might also be read in the same light, namely, as an attempt to impress people. It is tragic the military did not provide the needed help, which we can only hope becomes available during Manning's further imprisonment