Bradley Manning Hearing

Adrian Lamo




For seven days inside a military base in Maryland as 2011 came to a close, evidence was heard about the life of Bradley Manning, a small man, only 5ft 2in tall who is accused of betraying his country by selling secrets to the enemy. They talked about gender identify, gay Army personnel, freedom of speech but most importantly, should Bradley Manning face a court martial?

He seemed calm and composed until former hacker and friend Adrian Lamo entered the courtroom. Lamo befriended Manning then betrayed him after he made a chat room confession. But there is some doubt about his mental capacity and his defence team are playing it for all it’s worth.


Before being sent to Iraq, there were episodes that clearly showed he had psychological problems – he was prone to violent outbursts and paranoia. He was found curled up in a ball on the floor of his work unit and he punched his superior, a woman, Jihrleah Showman in the face - surely an incident that should have started bells ringing. It was suggested at the hearing that nothing was done about it because he was the best computer operator in the unit.


Manning’s defence team said his mental state was compounded by the army’s refusal to acknowledge his struggle with his sexuality and how he desperately wanted to become a woman. He sent a picture of himself dressed as a woman to his superior and created a Facebook page as Breanna Manning.


But the question is – does this justify stealing 251,287 top secret state department cables and giving them to WikiLeaks to be released to the world? In the eyes of his country, he is a traitor, responsible for giving secrets to the enemy and every effort will be made to lock him up and throw away the key.


The hearing ended and the investigating officer Lt Col Paul Almanza has until 16 January to wade through all the evidence and inform the convening authority of his recommendation – whether Manning is to face a court martial or not.