In his first public remarks in six months, Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier charged with leaking 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks, told a court Wednesday that he is sorry that “my actions hurt people” and the United States, but hinted his coming to terms with his sexuality played a major role in his actions.
“At the time of the decision, as you know, I was dealing with a lot of issues, issues that are ongoing,” Manning told the judge, Col. Denise Lind. The issues seem a clear reference to the stress his defense attorneys said Manning was under as he came to terms with his homosexuality and gender identity in the era of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Prior to Manning’s remarks, an Army psychiatrist testified that Manning came to him for help in dealing with gender identify disorder. Capt. Michael Worsley said Manning emailed him a picture of himself dressed as a woman in a letter titled “My problem.” In the letter, Manning said that he had hoped his military career would help him “get rid of” his “problem.”
Worsley said that Manning could expect no support from the “hyper-masculine environment “of the military. “Really, it was just me,” Worsley said.
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In fact, in testimony on Tuesday, Manning’s master sergeant, Paul Adkins, acknowledged that Manning sent him a similar letter and photo, saying that gender issues were “haunting me more and more as I get older.” Adkins nonetheless found Manning fit for duty.
Manning was convicted last month on a series of charges related to the leaks, but was acquitted of the most serious charges of aiding the enemy. He faces up to 90 years in jail.
In his three-minute address to the court, Manning told the judge that he knew he should be punished for his actions, but hoped that the court would recognize that he was not a bad person.
“I should have worked more aggressively within the system,” Manning said. “Unfortunately, I can’t go back and change things,”
onyxsky
Let’s hope he is set free soon
samuel1chandel
like Vincent replied I am shocked that some one able to earn $6546 in a few weeks on the internet. have you read this website http://www.work25.??M
Geoff B
I have to admit, I’m not especially sympathetic to his plight as he knew the rules when he signed on (and if you think other first world countries don’t do shady things in the name of national security…. REALLY?), I don’t get what actual damage he’s done. If I’m wrong, feel free to enlighten me, but did anyone die as a result of his actions? I think he needs to be held accountable for his actions, but is a lifetime sentence really in the interest of justice?
2eo
He hurt nobody, 100% of military analysts agree this is literally the case. Having a conscience is not something you should apologise for. Just because the American machine loathes people with values and decency towards your fellow man.
This show trial has really shown up America, and its so called freedom.
tallskin2
He was tortured. It’s no surprise he is broken by his ordeal.
As gary younge of the Guardian says: When a man who’s been tortured repents in a military court prior to sentencing we should call it what it is: a show trial
Sadly, the USA has sunk to the level of a south american dictatorship in its regard for human rights.
Kieran
“I apologize. I should never have listened to those ‘If you see something, say something’ ads. Sometimes telling the truth is bad. Now please let me out of this US Concentration Camp. PLEASE!!”
BJ McFrisky
If one has “issues” regarding their sexual identity, they visit a shrink. What they DON’T do is intentionally attempt to hurt the country which has provided him more freedoms than any other country ever could.
But, thankfully, he’ll have the rest of his life to think about this, probably while stewing in solitary confinement because he’d be ripped apart by the general prison population.
BJ McFrisky
@Geoff B:
I agree with you to a degree, but a similar analogy would be drunk driving: When you get caught, they throw the book at you, not because of anything horrible you did, simply because of the POTENTIAL you posed to hurt innocents. Same concept. Can’t let people drive drunk just because they never killed anyone.
Fawkes
@BJ McFrisky: Oh boy, the GOProud troll is at it again!
BJ McFrisky
Again, Queerty censors an opinion because it doesn’t jibe with their own. I will repeat: We’re not all of the same Superior Gay Brain, and some of us actually possess independent ideas. If you can’t accept that, you’re doing no one in the gay community any service.
Fawkes
@BJ McFrisky: There’s nothing “independent” about your ideas as you do nothing but regurgitate government talking points. To hear your so-called “ideas,” all one has to do is listen to MSDNC or Faux News. Maybe Queerty is just tired of providing you a forum to air your anti-American filth. It makes them look bad to have little Jezebel demons flailing their tongues all day long on their website. You’ve got every right to say whatever you want. Create your own website where you call for an end to the rule of law and the Constitution and no one would stop you. Queerty would do the same for Klansmen, skinheads, etc., so stop acting like it’s some personal crusade against you.
Geoff B
@BJ McFrisky: I’m not gonna jump on you like some of the other folks here, but your analogy illustrates my point. One of my best friends started off her legal career prosecuting DUI cases. As she would tell you, you get in WAY more trouble if you drive drunk and hurt or kill someone than if you have a broken tail light, get pulled over and are found to be slightly over the legal limit. Granted, you’ll be punished, and it’ll be an expensive and embarassing lesson to learn, but you’re not going to do any serious time (if any) for blowing a .09 and not hurting anyone if it’s your first offense. You get caught for a third or fourth time and land someone in the hospital or worse, that’s another story. Manning didn’t actually harm anyone, and while I think he shouldn’t get off scot free, I also don’t think his whole life should be destroyed just to make an example out of him
BJ McFrisky
@Fawkes: You completely misinterpreted my message, Fawkesy. I “air anti-American filth”? You’ve mistaken me for every other radical commenter on this site, because I’m the most patriotic, America-loving mo who’s ever posted here, hands-down.
@Geoff B: I overstated my opinion when I said Manning should go away for life—he should not, I agree, but if he isn’t punished, that sets a frightening precedent for anyone with a grudge (or sexuality issues) to try to take down the country. My only problem with him being released is that he’ll immediately become a hero of the Left and will live the rest of his life as a celebrity.
Fawkes
@Geoff B: No, I didn’t “misinterpret” anything. You are one of the most radically anti-American, anti-freedom people I’ve seen post on this site. You openly fantasize about locking up whistleblowers like Bradley Manning, who are and have always been core figures for preserving this country’s freedoms. I know how you people work. You wrap yourselves in the flag and pretend to be patriotic, but in reality are about as far from patriotic as one can get. You spit on the freedoms this country stands for (or rather, since the government you worship has gotten out of control, USED to stand for) and then have the audacity to call yourself “patriotic”? If you want a country that spits on freedom and spits on the rule of law, just go to one of the many banana republics still operating. Go back to watching your nonsense mainstream media/government propaganda and leave the rest of us alone.
BJ McFrisky
@Fawkes: My only reply to that is, although you fancy yourself as an omnipotent intellectual, you have no idea what you’re talking about when it comes to my pro-American patriotism and ideology.
Also, you directed your comment at Geoff B, so he’s probably confused right now as to why you’re venting your venom at him. Perhaps he deserves an apology.
ps – There’s no one who’s more anti-American than the Guy Fawkes (OWS) crowd, any fourth-grader could tell you that. Is Fawkes just coincidentally your real name, or are you enamored with domestic terrorism?
Fawkes
@BJ McFrisky: Typical un-American nonsense. What did anything I said have anything to do with Occupy Wall Street? What a lunatic you are. It is truly a shame people like you are allowed to ruin this country with impunity. It used to be that people like you were tried for treason. Now you all do nothing but infest the upper echelons of this criminal government.
Also, unlike you, @Geoff B: appears to be an intelligent person, so he can probably figure that out on his own.
BJ McFrisky
Treason? Treason for what, disagreeing with the leftist agenda? Only a die-hard lib would interpret patriotism as treason. And again: where does the name Fawkes come from, if not the ridiculous mask adopted by the Occupy movement? You can dance around the question all you want, but it won’t keep me from asking it.
And stop with the childish name-calling—all that does is make you liberals feel good about yourselves but look stupid to everyone else.
Fawkes
@BJ McFrisky: You think I’m a liberal? Ha! How sad is it that you two-party system trolls think that defending the rule of law and the Constitution is “liberal”? The so-called liberals do the exact same thing (albeit they toss around the word “conservative”) when one tries to defend the 2nd or 10th amendments. I feel sorry for you that you really cannot see past some dumb little ideology that you’ve constructed for yourself. But your arguments even fall apart when looking at them through the fake left-right paradigm. All MSDNC does all day long is demonize whistleblowers like Bradley Manning and Eric Snowden because they make their golden god Obama look bad. You’re far more of a “liberal” than I.
As for the name, I rather enjoyed V for Vendetta, so when trying to think of a screen name, I settled on that. But clearly under your nasty ideloogy, even the Founding Fathers would be labeled as “terrorists.” The fact that you people have been allowed to run amok makes me very sad for my country.
BJ McFrisky
@Fawkes: You know, I rather enjoyed the movie “Zodiac,” but I would never consider using a screen name like “Zodiac Killer” because it would suggest that I honored his actions.
Guy Fawkes was a domestic terrorist (as are, to a lesser degree, Manning and Snowden). Enough said.
Fawkes
@BJ McFrisky: And as I said, the Founding Fathers would be labeled “terrorists” under your disgusting anti-American ideology. But nice job setting up some BS straw man argument to attack me rather than debate my points. You people are very good at that.