Don’t ask — and don’t tell WikiLeaks

Don’t ask — and don’t tell WikiLeaks

As more information comes out of WikiLeaks, the world is focussed on the sites founder, Julian Assange.

But the information being released allegedly came from Private Bradley Manning, 23, now facing 52 years behind bars if he is found guilty of passing the hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and military logs to Assange.

And the true culprit behind the leaks is really Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell [DADT].

One of Manning’s fellow US servicemen told reporters that Manning was a “really nice kid” who was “terrorised” by the army and other soldiers despite being polite, sociable and eager to please. He was targeted because he is gay.

The serviceman said the bullying embittered Manning.

“He had a sense of revenge against things. He never should have had the access that he had. You can’t punish a bull for wrecking a china shop when you’ve pushed the bull in to it and trapped him in there.”

There’s speculation that Manning might in fact be transgendered, after extracts from his conversations with hacker Adrian Lemo, who altered US authorities to Manning’s alleged role in the affair, were published on the internet.

Manning wrote “I wouldn’t mind going to prison for the rest of my life, or being executed so much, if it wasn’t for the possibility of having pictures of me… plastered all over the world press… as boy… I’m just kind of drifting now…waiting to redeploy to the US,be discharged… and figure out how on earth I’m going to transition.”

Of course, no-one can ask Manning himself, because he’s been held incommunicado by the US military since April.

Reaction from the Right has been extreme. Washington Times columnist Jeffrey Kuhner called for Manning to be ‘interrogated aggressively’, and for Julian Assange to be assassinated. Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Manning should be executed for treason.

Huckabee also opposed the repeal of DADT ‘because it works’.

But the WikiLeaks debacle shows that it doesn’t: if Manning had been allowed to serve openly, there’s a good chance he would never have become embittered.

There would be something very appropriate about a man ordered to live a lie taking his revenge by exposing the lies of those who maintained and enforced those orders – if he did.

The ultimate irony is that the leaks may not have come from him at all. About a half-million servicemen, government officials, and private contractors can log on to the secret information network, making it almost impossible to secure.

Pete Hoekstra, ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, is convinced the system has been thoroughly penetrated by foreign intelligence services.

Manning may only be a scapegoat.

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11 responses to “Don’t ask — and don’t tell WikiLeaks”

  1. The WikiLeaks website posted 91,731 American military documents on the U.S.-NATO occupation of Afghanistan alone, let alone thousands of documents on the Iraq War, covering the period from January 2004 to December 2009. The release was timed to coincide with articles on these revelations in the New York Times, the British Guardian and the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel, all of which had received the documents before release on the Wikileaks website.

    While some sip lattes and tell lies about Manning, I prefer to look at the truth and not the spin put out by staunch ALP supporters. Manning is the great hero of the war. Saving lives, and exposing the many untruths about the way Gillard and Rudd has told us the people, a great fable.

    Manning is a great hero. He is the one doing 52years jail time. Others may sip a latte and take swipes at him for his sexuality, but I will not mock him. I have seen some of the leaks, I have read some of the reports, I have heard the lies by Julia Gillard. It takes bravery, courage, and a true patriot to stand-up to the dark forces that seek to keep the truth from us the people. I only wish I could be as strong as Manning.

  2. Manning is alleged to have leaked 150,000 documents – a tiny, tiny fraction related to Iraq.

    The rest are gossip (important newsflash – the Crown Prince of Thailand has gambling debts!!)

    He ain’t cool…he is the poster-boy for people wanting to ban gays from the military.

  3. It’s a bit worrying for a gay website to pick up on the gutter press nudge-nudge wink-wink sensationalist rubbish about his transgender status. It was obviously not what he was talking about. And he did not leak them because of his sexuality or even in response to DADT, we know that from his conversations, he never mentions it at all. Again, the angle of this reporting is a bit strange for something like Star Observer. We should be supporting Manning, he is the coolest fag on earth. Gay men are so apathetic, so apolitical, it’s a breath of fresh air to see a gay man be so bold and so full of belief. It’s rare, let’s face it.

  4. I believe in the founding philosophy of the USA. What it has released in human potential is a guiding light for all.

    I am for the brave who made what is great in that country in the face of tyranny – may the free wise and good rise again to defeat the tyranny of the darkness that holds sway today.

    I wish the Truth was free in America, but the country is betrayed at the highest level not by these petty scapegoats.

    The cynicism of the governing corporate cabals and their compliant politicians is beyond measure. They hound down, MURDER, TORTURE and crush anyone who dares speak the truth that would expose them.

    Truth and Justice are not the American way anymore.

    The G.F.C. was created by the corporate and regulatory leaders greed and they all lied and concealed for each other while the wealth of the nation and the world was pillaged. Corruption, theft and a vacuum of ethics, with no shame or remorse. Absolute greed, and abandonment of the public good for private gain.

    The hospitals and schools of the USA are left to beg; the prisons burst with the fruit of poverty – of theft from the people by the rich; ignorance and hatred are actively encouraged by the leaders yet the hounds of death in the Pentagon take trillions to bring killing and hell on earth to millions.

    Yet again the weak and powerless are crushed to keep the populous ignorant afraid and compliant to a hand full of billionaires.

    True democracy will protect and restore Truth & Justice to the U.S.A. Government of the people for the people by the people (not a corporate elite) works. They know and fear that and are hell bent on destroying it.

    And on Australian soil – how soon till we restore the land and it’s Aboriginal people.

    Till we reverse the heinous crime and genocide of our very real Australian “Tibet”.

    love and peace.

  5. Manning is going to jail for 52 years.

    The reality as Doug pointed out is different to the spin of people like Gillard.

    Do we have a right to know if our war is going badly? Do we have a right to know if war crimes are being committed by our government? Do we have a right to know if China attacks people in Tibet? Do we have a right to know if our Prime Minister acts like a power hungry lunatic who cannot formulate foreign policy? Do we have a right to know if China launches cyber attacks on our businesses or government websites?

    We are spending billions on a war that the spin from Gillard is “We are making huge progress”. But we now know a very different reality. Australian lives are being lost, civilian lives are being lost.

    Where is the honesty in a web of lies that we are told? Manning will be in jail for the rest of his life for being honest enough to give us the truth. I trust those that give me the truth, not those full of bullshit like Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.

  6. What utter twaddle.

    Manning (allegedly) leaked everything he could lay his hands on – not just in relation Afghanistan and Iraq.

    Remarkably, this “secret world’ is overhwelmingly consistent with what was already widely published in mainstream newspapers – with the notable exception that several Arab nations are also extremely worried by Iran.

    Mostly, the leaks are mundane gossip (Berlusconi roots around) or established truths (Rudd is abrasive).

    But there is a reason the leaks are extremely damaging.

    It is in these conversations that China could signal a more humane approach to Tibet. Or Israel talk about withdrawing settlements on the West Bank.

    Private conversations are vital to resolving disputes or reaching peace.

  7. Do you trust those that seek to give you truth, or those that seek to lie cover it up?

    http://www.theage.com.au/technology/security/pm-has-betrayed-me-assange-20101204-18ks8.html

    Our media relies on leaks for truth. This is often brought to us by brave people who pay a terrible price at times. We were promised national Whistle Blower Legislation but that is not likely now.

    Manning in time will be judged a hero. He is someone with more integrity then those that sought to cover-up their War Crimes or those that call him a traitor. Manning tried to stop his government, and our government, getting away with murder, and he has saved many lives. I will always be grateful to him for that. If he went to Clinton or even our Gillard with this information I have no doubt he would not be alive. Manning is someone who has shown great integrity and put the community needs ahead of his own freedom and life.

  8. First, a correction.
    From speaking to sources in the US military since this was written, Manning is gay, not trans. His words have apparently been misinterpreted.
    Like most members of the US military, he is intensely patriotic.
    The trigger for leaking to Assange was his discovery that US had been committing war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Advocate General was colluding in covering up the fact. He saw this as a betrayal of his loyalty to the US and the Army to which he had given that loyalty and service despite the harassment he endured.
    Thanks to Manning, we have some real news to read instead of spin. Whatever the motives, he has done the world a great service.
    Assange looks like he’s just stepped out of the pages of Twilight, whereas Manning looks like he just stepped out of the pages of Mad magazine.
    Assange is aggressively heterosexual. Manning is gay.
    Assange is a cool nerd. Manning is just a nerd.
    So the media just loves Assange, and would rather not acknowledge Manning.
    Assange risks comparatively little. Whereas Manning in unlikely ever to see outside a prison again.
    I think he deserves understanding and support and thanks, not more kicking when he’s down.

  9. I agree with Ben, sorry but knee jerk responses in support of gays regardless of what they’ve done have to stop.
    Bradley Manning is an American traitor, plain and simple.
    The repeal of D.A.D.T. has just failed and that loss can be attributed quite rightly to the actions of Manning.
    I have never desired to join conservative, reactionary establishments like the ‘defense force’ (especially given that one would be possibly sent to fight in an illegal, immoral war in Iraq) but defend the right of gays to do so if they so want.
    Regardless of his intentions Manning has bitterly betrayed the gays serving in the US and has set the issue of being openly gay back 50 years.
    Manning apparently has a history of being bullied BEFORE he joined the US army. What the hell was he thinking ? that joining a bastion of conservative, hetero-sexist machismo would make his problems go away?
    Conservative commentators were calling for a complete ban of gays just after news of this all broke. D.A.D.T. looks downright progressive given the political climate now.
    His actions completely validate criticisms of the conservative of the suitability of gays in armed forces and the more I learn of him it is blatantly obvious that he personally wasn’t suitable. The news that he is considering ‘transitioning’ to become a woman just confirms this & yes, I see the irony of a drag queen saying this but really the security of the USA shouldn’t be depending on someone who can’t decide whether they’re Arthur or Martha as the saying goes.
    Fat chance he’ll ever achieve that now that he’ll probably sit in prison for a very long time.
    Bradley Manning you might be a hero to the herd who have uncritically ran to hero worship Assange & Wikileaks but you are no hero to the gays serving in the US.
    You just end up looking like a bitter vindictive little queen.

  10. “Don’t ask don’t tell” made me do it??

    Please! Of all the lame-arse excuses…it’s use as a defence can only set the cause of tens of thousands serving gays and lesbians backwards as their loyalty is now called into question!