ACCUSED GAY WIKILEAKS WHISTLE-BLOWER PVT. BRADLEY MANNING REMAINS IN JAIL, AWAITING TRIAL. BRODIE FOSTER HUBBARD UNCOVERS NEW DETAILS ON MANNING’S TROUBLED CHILDHOOD, HIS GENDER IDENTITY ISSUES AND THE FIGHT CONNECTION.
BY BRODIE FOSTER HUBBARD
Bradley Manning is many different things to many different people. A person’s opinion on him depends on how much they already know about him, their views on gender and sexuality and how they regard the government, our armed forces, and America’s role in the Middle East.
To some, Manning is a hero, either for his reputed “hacktivism” (activism by way of computer hacking) or for his membership in and stance on the LGBT community within the military. To others, he is a traitor to our country who deserves a torturous prison sentence and execution. To some, he is merely an emotionally troubled kid in his early twenties who screwed up big time. To others, he is a gay man – or perhaps, a trans woman – who had dealt with so much oppression that he could not have been expected to react any other way. For some who invested their hope in Barack Obama, Manning has become a symbol of a perceived failure of this current administration to learn from the mistakes made by the Bush/Cheney regime that preceded it.
“MANNING WAS AN ARMY OF ONE IN HOLDING THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT THEY WERE HIDING FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE”
- Cenk Uygur, “The Young Turks”
BULLYING, ALIENATION AT SCHOOL
The details of Manning’s life, his time in Iraq, and the crimes he has been accused of are part of a tale told not by manifestos sent to the press or sit-down interviews with reporters, but chat transcripts, social network accounts, military incident reports, and conjecture by people who never were face-to-face with the small-town Oklahoman turned Army specialist. Yet it is with those individuals that he shared the most personal information, not only of the troubles he had experienced in a broken home and as a homeless teen, but about the information security leak he allegedly committed from his position as an intelligence analyst for the United States Army.
Whether or not he ever meant for his own travails to become public knowledge, Manning’s childhood and adolescence in Crescent, Oklahoma (and his brief schooling in Wales, UK) has become the origin story for an international incident: a gifted, effeminate boy dealing with bullying and alienation at school and a disharmonious domestic life seeks solace through tinkering with technology (Manning wrote in an online chat, “I had a fascination building stuff with Lego, and with army stuff with green and tan soldiers… I also had hand-me- down dolls from my sister, Barbie dolls…”); boy becomes a child of divorce, with a suicidal mom and a violent father; teen starts wearing makeup and bringing home other boys to sleep over, though dad’s new wife thinks her new stepson isn’t actually gay but just doing it all for show; altercation between young man and step mom, in which he pulls out a knife and 911 is called, ends with police removing him from the premises; 18 year old makes a new home out of a truck in a Chicago airport parking lot, then struggles to survive in Tulsa with a string of low-paying retail jobs, after flunking out of community college in Maryland, his concerned parents suggest the young adult try to make a life for himself in the Army.
AFFAIR WITH A COLONEL
Manning enlisted in October 2007, completed basic training in Missouri at Fort Leonard Wood in April 2008 (Manning would later characterize the experience, via an online chat, as reminiscent of how cults program followers), and completed his intelligence officer training program in Arizona at Fort Huachuca in August 2008. He was then stationed in New York at Fort Drum, but traveling to Massachusetts to visit boyfriend Tyler Watkins, a neuroscience and psychology student at Brandeis University. He was also making friends with hacktivists in Boston, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researcher David House, and absorbing their ethics and culture. House would later be one of the individuals who helped form The Bradley Manning Support Network, which according to their website, is “an ad hoc, international grassroots effort” aimed at raising funds for Manning’s legal defense.
Manning, who was having difficulties with the machismo and homophobia prevalent in his unit, as well as the general burden of living and working under the strict rules and regulations of military life, also reached out online to make friends. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked the usual question” wrote Manning to Zinnia Jones. “Why is a gay, libertarian, atheist, computer nerd in the army?” Zinnia Jones is a YouTube sensation, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Atheism,” who publishes videos and blogs discussing social, political, and religious topics. Jones, a trans woman (“Call me ‘she’. Or ‘he’. Either is fine.”) is also an ongoing contributor to THE FIGHT. “In February of 2009,” says Jones, “I was contacted online by Private Bradley Manning… he found me via my YouTube videos, and we spoke on several occasions until August of 2009.”
In his chats with Jones, Manning indicated that he believed the Army is actually a diverse organization. “Male, female, black, white, gay, straight, Christian, Jewish, Asian, old or young, it doesn’t matter to me; we all wear the same green uniform,” wrote Manning, “but it’s still a male-dominated, Christian-right, oppressive organization.” Manning did not glamorize his work in military intelligence, saying it was not “as fun as television and movies make it out to be… in the real world, intelligence is a goofy, clunky, and annoying process.” However, Manning managed to make his intrigue, claiming to Jones that he had an affair with a colonel at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
SIGNS OF INSTABILITY
Manning was very interested in progressive politics, going to such events as “a Gavin Newsom gubernatorial fundraiser” and “a Stonewall Democrats Capitol Champions thingie.” At the time, Manning said he was looking forward to “hobnobbing with congressional folk” and picking their brains about religion and homophobia. Manning also attended Proposition 8 protests, though he called the efforts against the measure “a grassroots mess” with “no leadership,” telling Jones in a chat, “I’d love to take the reins.” Manning named quantum physicist Richard Feynman, astronomer Carl Sagan, and assassinated gay politician Harvey Milk as his role models.
Manning was not shy about sharing his opinions with Jones in their chats. Manning called Rick Warren, the high-profile Christian evangelical preacher who has spoken out against same-sex marriage, “a fuzzy warm and friendly fascist.” Manning’s portrayal of American diplomatic policy, as reflected in his view of a state department report he had just read, was “Keep a smile on your face, and a knife behind your back.” Manning also shared his idea with Jones about producing a video regarding “the history, current status of, and call for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT, as of press time, is set to end on September 20, 2011). Manning also told Jones that ex-boyfriend Tyler Watkins, a Catholic, valued his faith more than their relationship. Manning and Watkins ended their relationship right before Manning’s departure to Iraq in October 2009. Manning’s assignment came despite conflicts with roommates and signs of instability. His superior offices expressed concerns and recommended mental health counseling, but were satisfied with his response to therapy and gave no formal objection to Manning’s deployment.
“I CAN’T ENTIRELY AGREE WITH THE MOVEMENT CALLING FOR BRADLEY TO BE RELEASED… THERE IS A REASON WHY THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW”
- Zinnia Jones, “The Fight” Contributor
“COLLATERAL MURDER” VIDEO
Specialist Manning came under discipline once at Forward Operating Base Hammer near Baghdad for hitting a female officer with whom he had a disagreement. He was subsequently demoted to Private and warned of a possible discharge for “adjustment disorder,” which has been debated as meaning either trouble adjusting to military life, or gender identity issues, or both. Statements by his military gender counselor and published chats have revealed that Manning had begun examining his gender identity shortly after deployment, crossdressing in public while on leave, contemplating electrolysis, and seeking counseling about gender reassignment. He also shared his objections to the war with the same military gender counselor, based in part on his observations from deep within the Army’s intelligence presence in the Middle East.
Manning had access to sensitive information and war footage available on the Department of Defense’s Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) and Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS). What occurred between the start of Manning’s work in the Middle East and his initial detainment in Kuwait – in particular, just exactly what he did with all that access – is a matter to be determined,
in theory, by a court of law, though whether it be military or federal remains to be seen. All that is certain is his arrest in May 2010, his transfer to a Marine base in Quantico, Virginia at the end of July 2010, and his March 2011 transfer to Kansas at Fort Leavenworth. He awaits trial on nearly three dozen charges so far relating to the release of hundreds of thousands of classified documents, including State Department cables, military incident reports, and logs with information about military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and at least two videos of civilian deaths, casualties known euphemistically as “collateral damage,” caused by U.S. airstrikes. This data ended up on Julian Assange’s website, WikiLeaks, most notably the video which came to be known on the internet as “Collateral Murder.”
EXTREME STRESS AND ISOLATION
The case against Manning is largely based on the testimony of infamous informant and computer hacker Adrian Lamo, who was arrested in 2004 for breaking into the databases of MCI WorldCom, Microsoft, The New York Times, and Yahoo, for which he served six months of home arrest and two years of probation, and paid $65,000 in fines. There are diverging viewpoints on whether Lamo was doing his duty as a concerned citizen or acting duplicitously for his own personal gain. Advocates for Manning point out the inconsistency of Lamo’s multiple retellings as to when and how he and Manning first came into contact. According to the May 2010 chat transcripts Lamo provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Wired Magazine, Manning had formed a friendship with Assange and served as his “high profile source” through data burned onto CD-RWs, some with Lady Gaga songs that he would lip-sync to as he wrote over the discs. Manning told Lamo the area he worked in was “a perfect example of how not to do infosec” – that is, information security – “weak servers, weak logging, weak physical security, weak counter-intelligence, inattentive signal analysis… a perfect storm.”
There are multiple instances in the Manning-Lamo chats where Manning expressed his extreme stress, loneliness and isolation, telling Lamo that he was “flipping out,” “a total mess,” and “a wreck.” Manning told Lamo about his network of gay contacts in Washington D.C and shared his exploration of living as a female.
The reputedly bisexual Lamo flirted with Manning, telling him during an exchange about Manning’s gender identity, “You make a cute boy.” Lamo also assured Manning that their conversations were “not for print,” saying, “I’m a journalist and a minister. You can pick either, and treat this as a confession or an interview (never to be published) and enjoy a modicum of legal protection.”
One of Manning’s personal revelations to Lamo was that he was setting up an online identity as “Breanna,” including Twitter and YouTube accounts. While their authenticity as Bradley Manning’s personal accounts has yet to be confirmed, username “bmanningfm” created YouTube and Twitter accounts in May 2010. @bmanningfm can be seen on Twitter following only two other accounts, one being journalist Glenn Greenwald, the other being the official account for online political news show The Young Turks.
“I’m proud that Bradley Manning was following The Young Turks,” said show creator, executive producer, and host Cenk Uygur in a statement to THE FIGHT. “He is a whistleblower, not a criminal.” Uygur is one of the many voices who have called out the Obama Administration for their treatment ofManning since he has become a prisoner awaiting trial.
NAKED FOR DAILY INSPECTION
Manning was initially held at Quantico as a maximum custody detainee under Prevention of Injury status, which entailed the removal of his prescription glasses, not being allowed daytime sleep or bed sheets, being periodically stripped to his underwear by guards, and at one point, presenting himself naked for daily morning inspection. He was confined to his cell for all but one hour a day, for which he was allowed to walk only while still shackled.
Manning wrote an 11-page letter appealing his status, which his lawyer released to the press. An investigation concluded after Manning’s transfer to Fort Leavenworth ruled that despite medical officers advising that Manning was not a suicide risk, brig personnel contradicted Navy regulations by ignoring the findings and leaving Manning on hold for several more days.
Guantanamo Bay, the site of one of the Bush Administration’s many controversial policies, was one of the topics that came up between Manning and Zinnia Jones in their chats. “Sometimes I wish it were all black and white like the media and politicians present it,” wrote Manning. “He’s the bad guy, oh and he, he’s the good guy.” Manning could just as well have been predicting the discussion at large about his own case – “It’s all shades of blurry grey.”
Did Manning do the right thing? Is he a champion of the transparency Obama promised to bring to government but failed to deliver? Is he a martyr for the human rights movement, and in particular, the LGBT community, both in the military and the civilian world? Was he just trying to carry on the proud tradition of LGBT activism? Was a lonely gay boy (and potential trans woman) from a dysfunctional family bullied by fellow soldiers, taken advantage of by a duplicitous fellow hacker, and abused by the justice system?
“Manning army of one was an in holding the government accountable for what they were hiding from the American people,” says Uygur. But for her part, Jones cannot justify Manning’s alleged leaks. “I can’t entirely agree with the movement calling for Bradley to be released… there is a reason why this is against the law.”
Also, despite Manning’s interest in activism, passion about gay rights, and journey into life as a trans woman, Jones doesn’t hold Manning as the symbol that he aspired to be for the LGBT community. “There are thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people around the world who serve their country with honor,” says Jones. “They have not done anything like this, and who they are is not even remotely a reliable indicator that they would posesome kind of security risk. It’s clear that Bradley was facing a variety of issues that were much more significant than simply being gay, and reducing all of this to his sexuality is extremely misleading.” Still, Jones believes “Bradley deserves a fair trial – he’s already been deprived of a speedy trial, and the effects of his prolonged confinement may have caused irreparable damage to his mental well-being.”
Philip Crowley, a United States Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, resigned in March 2011, three days after calling Manning’s treatment “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid” in front of an audience at MIT. Shortly after, at a fundraiser in San Francisco where protesters broke into song on behalf of Manning, Obama said Manning’s treatment was appropriate and that “he broke the law.” The comments have been construed by some as an assumption of “guilty before proven innocent,” or even before any sort of trial, particularly problematic when coming from a constitutional scholar and sitting President. Juan Méndez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, has been joined by Amnesty International, The British Embassy in Washington, Welsh Labour Member of Parliament Ann Clwyd, U.S. Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich, and many others in raising questions about the constitutionality of Manning’s imprisonment and whether his treatment might be a human rights violation.
“Regardless of what he might have done,” says Jones, “he is a person, and he has rights. Everyone does.”
PHILIP CROWLEY, A U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS, RESIGNED IN MARCH 2011, THREE DAYS AFTER CALLING MANNING’S TREATMENT “RIDICULOUS, COUNTERPRODUCTIVE AND STUPID”