Bradley Manning Apologizes For The Harm Everyone Admits He Didn't Actually Cause

from the messed-up dept

Thu, Aug 15th 2013 1:51pm — Mike Masnick

As you may have heard, Bradley Manning took the stand at the sentencing part of the trial and issued an apology.

First, your honour I want to start off with an apology. I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States.

At the time of my decisions, as you know, I was dealing with a lot of issues, issues that are ongoing and continuing to effect me. Although a considerable difficulty in my life, these issues are not an excuse for my actions.

I understood what I was doing, and decisions I made. However I did not fully appreciate the broader effects of my actions.

Those factors are clear to me now, through both self-refection during my confinement in various forms, and through the merits and sentencing testimony that I have seen here.

I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people.

There's more to the apology, but that's basically the first half. There's just one problem with it. There remains no evidence that he hurt anyone or the United States. We've discussed some of this before, but Rainey Reitman, over at the Freedom of the Press Foundation has a detailed breakdown of how the US government admits, quite clearly, the lack of any real damage or harm from Manning's actions:

Even when the WikiLeaks hysteria was in full swing, government officials from the State Department briefed Congress on the impact of the Wikileaks revelations, and said that the leaks were "embarrassing but not damaging." U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said that, while some of the information may have been embarrassing, "I don't think there is any substantive damage."

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates has admitted the leaks caused no serious damage, telling Congress that the reactions to the leaks were "significantly overwrought." He went on to say: "Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is it awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest."

At the same time, Reuters reported that other officials were admitting in private that they were exaggerating the damage that resulted from the leaks in order to bolster the legal efforts against WikiLeaks and Manning.

This has born out in Manning's trial and sentencing hearing. It's why the government fought so hard to keep its official WikiLeaks "damage assessments" from being revealed in court. It's why, despite all the government's overwrought pronouncements early on of "blood on the hands" of those responsible, a U.S. official was forced to admit under oath in Manning's sentencing hearing that not a single person died as a result of the releases.

In fact, she notes that Manning's original assessment that he was trying to help not hurt is borne out in what actually happened thanks to his leaks:

The truth is, the public has benefited tremendously as a result of Manning's disclosures to WikiLeaks. Over the least three years, the disclosures have helped shape an international discussion about America's foreign policy. They showed Americans the true face of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- from accurate body counts in Iraq to journalists killed by American soldiers to the government blocking investigations of CIA extraordinary rendition to U.S. turning a blind eye to torture in violation of the Geneva conventions. They've exposed corruption and lawbreaking in dozens of countries around the world. They contributed to democratic movements in the Middle East, and helped spur a movement in defense of free speech online. One State Department cable was even instrumental in helping precipitate the end to the Iraq war.

Her concluding paragraph makes the point quite clearly. Embarrassment may feel like "harm" but when that embarrassment is from doing something wrong and exposing that wrongness is part of the necessary process of stopping it, that's not "harm" at all. That's the process of helping:

Bradley Manning didn't hurt us any more than a dentist hurts a patient when removing an abscessed tooth. The brief discomfort that resulted from the WikiLeaks disclosures was necessary to begin the process of healing and reform. It is a process that we do not yet know will be successful, but which began with Manning's decision to leak vital documents to WikiLeaks. And for that, we owe Manning thanks; no apologies necessary.

Obviously, the apology is effectively Manning throwing himself on the mercy of the judge -- a last gasp effort to prevent having to spend most or all of the rest of his life in jail. But, as Kevin Gosztola points out, while there are people who should have to plead for mercy from a judge, Manning should not have to, given the total lack of harm, and the tremendous help that came out of his leaks.

The conviction of Bradley Manning will go down in history as an embarrassment for the US -- much more harmful and embarrassing than anything that he leaked. The prosecution and conviction show a country that doesn't stand up for its own principles and looks to massively and disproportionately punish whistleblowers who call attention to government and military wrongdoing and coverups.

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Filed Under: apology, bradley manning, harm, mercy of the court, wikileaks

36 Comments

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limbodog (profile), 15 Aug 2013 @ 1:56pm

Sorry Pvt Manning
We let you down.
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crade (profile), 15 Aug 2013 @ 1:59pm

See? Torture works.
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- any moose cow word, 15 Aug 2013 @ 2:29pm
  
  Re:
  Yes, it's quite effective for convincing others to confess things they did not do.
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- Paul Renault (profile), 15 Aug 2013 @ 3:31pm
  
  Re:
  Came here to say the same thing.
  
  If Bradley Manning was released tomorrow, he'd probably have to be in therapy for years. Those bastards who tortured him, likely got a bonus or a promotion... Grrr.
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- Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 5:02pm
  
  Re:
  I just pressed the "Sad but true button".
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  - Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2013 @ 7:26am
    
    Re: Re:
    I can't find it, where's that button hidden on this site?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 2:29pm

I guess the moral of the story is, don't leak anything while you're an enlisted member of the military. Wait until 'after' you're discharged to leak it. Even then, leak it anonymously.
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Uriel-238 (profile), 15 Aug 2013 @ 2:40pm

This is up there with the time Harry Whittington apologized to (then) Vice President Cheney for Cheney shooting him in the face with a shotgun.

Today I am ashamed to be an American and to have my will associated with the court of Army Col. Denise Lind.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 2:43pm

We had a similar trial here in Czechoslovakia with Milada Horakova. Perhaps too similar?
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 15 Aug 2013 @ 2:54pm

Damn you shadows.
"You will cooperate with the state for the good of the state and your own survival. You will confess to the crimes of which you have been accused. You will be released and returned to society a productive citizen if you cooperate. Resistance will be punished, cooperation will be rewarded."

Do we have a Ministry of Truth yet?
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- any moose cow word, 15 Aug 2013 @ 3:36pm
  
  Re: Damn you shadows.
  Would have marked it "funny" if it wasn't so damn true. Gave an "insightful" for the apt reference though.
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- Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 4:44pm
  
  Re: Damn you shadows.
  The thing is, in b5, the transition from democracy to totalitarian police state took 2 or 3 years, and therefore highly noticeable. Our transition has been so gradual.... i really do wonder if its too late, 20 years from now we really might have a ministry of truth and peace, and without interesting spacetravel!
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- Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2013 @ 1:39am
  
  Re: Damn you shadows.
  Yes, it's called the NSA.
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Rikuo (profile), 15 Aug 2013 @ 3:02pm

*Rips Nobel Peace Prize from Obama's slimy hands, cleans it, then hands it to the far more deserving person*
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 3:04pm

Hurting the gigantic ego of the USA, or any group or person, is deserving of the death sentence because it is more painful than if you took out a gun and shot them.
But really, this is ridiculous, Manning's actions helped the USA, it showed the world and them/us that they/we aren't perfect, and that is probably for everyone's own good.
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Darrel, 15 Aug 2013 @ 3:08pm

Bradley Manning violated many laws and directives, period. Bradley Manning understood and signed his understanding upon acceptance of his security clearance. I think that his actions, in the end, will do more good for us than harm, but he broke the law. He could have hoped for jury nullification if he went with a court martial panel, but instead opted for the SJA. If Bradley Manning truly feels what he did was right, he will walk out of prison some years down the road vindicated in his actions.
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- any moose cow word, 15 Aug 2013 @ 3:49pm
  
  Re:
  You do realize that he actually plead guilty to some of the charges? When this went to trial, no one imagined, even Manning himself, that he would off for what he did.
  
  Someone who sees an injustice and would face personal risk and consequences if that injustice was made public, yet speaks out anyway, is a hero.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 3:50pm
    
    Re: Re:
    ...would *get* off for what he did.
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  - That One Guy (profile), 15 Aug 2013 @ 5:07pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Frankly I wouldn't put too much stake in the fact that he plead guilty to some of the charges, given they had three years to work him over and wear him down.
    
    Was he guilty of some of the charges they accused him of? Probably, however it was supposed to be their job to prove his guilt, not hang the threat of more of the same over his head to coerce him into confessing.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2013 @ 3:32am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      they are required to prove his guild, sure, they asked him, he said YES.
      
      Not too hard !!!
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- Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 5:03pm
  
  Re:
  Yeah it's the law! That why we arrest cops for breaking and send them down the line all the time.
  
  Oh wait no we don't.. We give them paid vacations for breaking the law.
  
  Dick.
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  - That One Guy (profile), 15 Aug 2013 @ 5:18pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Please, police get a pass because they're 'only' breaking the law, which is acceptable for those in power, Manning got the hammer dropped on him for a far worse 'crime', that of making the US look bad.
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    - Jeremy Lyman (profile), 16 Aug 2013 @ 6:24am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      But he didn't make the U.S. look bad, the abuses made us look bad. He showed us a mirror so we could see how horrible we look to everyone else.
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- Chop, 16 Aug 2013 @ 6:13am
  
  Re:
  And if the law told you to blatantly throw away your life for a really stupid cause, you'd probably do it 'cause "it's the law!!!" Goddamn you're an idiot.
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- art guerrilla (profile), 16 Aug 2013 @ 7:19am
  
  Re: to "darrel"...
  1. why do i suspect your respect for 'the rule of law' only applies to the heroic actions of Bradley Manning, but NOT the criminal actions of the administration and leaders who have seen his is tortured for these years held in custody ?
  
  2. HE WAS (as ALL mercenaries, oops, Glorious Military Heroes are) charged with UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION and swore an oath to do so; he was about THE ONLY ONE to actually do so, all the rest have FAILED TO UPHOLD THEIR OATH...
  including saint obama, feinstein (R-NSA), hayden, alexander, etc...
  
  3. of course, you conveniently overlook the fact that The System is BROKEN, and he was left with no choice if he was to obey the dictates of his conscience AND HIS OFFICIAL CHARGE TO DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION, NOT the illegal actions of his 'superiors' (who he is superior to in EVERY WAY)...
  
  i really can't help but hate on a POS like yourself...
  
  art guerrilla
  aka ann archy
  art guerrilla at windstream dot net
  eof
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- Thomas, 16 Aug 2013 @ 8:52am
  
  Exposing crimes should never be a criminal offense. It makes a total mockery of justice.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 3:24pm

Was there ever a doubt to the outcome? This was always setup to be a kangaroo kourt from the beginning.
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- Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2013 @ 3:33am
  
  Re:
  probably not too much doubt after his pleads of guilt !! I would expect..
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Postulator (profile), 15 Aug 2013 @ 8:13pm

Where are all the commenters who keep saying how damaging his leaks have been, and how many lives have been lost? It's suddenly very quiet except for the single "he swore an oath" (which ignores that his oath was to protect his country not his boss - and his actions have very much helped his country).

Embarrassment is not enough reason to ruin someone's life.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 8:24pm

If anything...
He hurt American people by making them realize that this country doesn't have as much "freedom and justice" as they had imagined.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2013 @ 10:08pm

when the cloven hooves fly
maybe a fearless leader or three down the road some enlightened soul elected to the post of leader of the free world will see fit to grant the man clemency, who knows?

Hang the threat of a lifetime over him for a decade or two then release him from the Gulag in a magnanimous gesture of mercy.
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Mr. Oizo, 16 Aug 2013 @ 1:03am

Reminds me of japan to apologize to america for 'given reason to bomb them'. I think they will set manning free. A fine example of a converted citizen. And it will show the rest opf the world that justice is fair. America needs a symbol like that.
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Ninja (profile), 16 Aug 2013 @ 3:34am

The guy must be broken after all the torturing from the years in prison. Maybe this is Manning telling the world "it's enough, I cannot take anymore of this". It's sad.
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btrussell (profile), 16 Aug 2013 @ 4:07am

"The conviction of Bradley Manning will go down in history as an embarrassment for the US..."

They will just re-write it.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2013 @ 6:42am

I just finished 1984, and what happened at the end is exactly what they are trying to do to Bradley Manning. Our rulers are sick.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Aug 2013 @ 8:27am

What type of...
non-torture did they use to get this apology?
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