Army releases photo of Bradley Manning dressed as a woman that he emailed to his therapist - as the private takes stand to apologize for leaking documents to WikiLeaks
- The former intelligence analyst, 25, apologized for his actions during a prepared statement at his sentencing hearing today
- Photograph of Bradley Manning dressed as a woman - wearing a wig and makeup was released today also
- He faces up to 90 years in prison for leaking classified information
- 'I'm sorry I hurt people. I'm sorry that I hurt the US. I'm apologizing for the unexpected results of my actions,' he told the military judge
- Earlier in the day, an Army psychologist testified that Bradley Manning's private struggle with his gender identity put massive pressure on the soldier
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On the same day that Bradley Manning finally took to the stand and apologized for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks - the army he betrayed released a picture of the troubled soldier wearing a blond wig, makeup and lipstick.
He addressed the court after a day of testimony about his troubled childhood in Oklahoma and the extreme psychological pressure that experts said he felt in the 'hyper-masculine' military because of his gender-identity disorder — his feeling that he was a woman trapped in a man's body.
Speaking in the court room at Fort Meade, Baltimore, Manning, 25, said, 'First your honor, I want to start off with an apology.'
'I'm sorry I hurt people. I'm sorry that I hurt the US. I'm apologizing for the unexpected results of my actions,' he told the military judge, Colonel Denise Lind.
As the photograph that Manning sent to his army therapist in confidence was circulated to the media, Manning told the court he understood what he was doing at the time of the leaks and the decisions he made.
However, he says he did not believe at the time that leaking the information would cause harm.
'When I made these decisions, I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people.' said the former Private 1st Class who was found guilty of 20 out of 21 counts against him last month - including several for espionage.
However, he was acquitted of the most serious charge of 'aiding the enemy' - for which he could have faced the death penalty.
His conciliatory tone was at odds with the statement he gave in court in February, when he condemned the actions of U.S. soldiers overseas and what he called the military's 'bloodlust.'
Regardless, Manning faces up to 90 years in prison for the leaks.
Stepping out: Bradley Manning heads to court at Fort Meade on Wednesday for his sentencing hearing
Gender Identity Issues: In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Bradley Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Manning emailed his military therapist the photo with a letter titled, 'My problem'
Sentencing: Manning, who could speak up in court later today, faces up to 90 years in prison for the leaks
Manning's statement came after three days in which his legal team had called witnesses to persuade the judge to lower his sentence.His statement on the stand was unsworn, which meant that he could only speak to the judge and not be cross-examined.
Speaking directly to Colonel Lind, Manning admitted to having 'a lot of issues', when he leaked the material to WikiLeaks in 2010 and that these still continue to cause him trouble.
However, the soldier who faces a lifetime behind bars said, 'These issues are not an excuse for my actions.'
Speaking candidly to the court, Mannning said that the diplomatic wires and classified documents he stole and sent to WikiLeaks, and its founder Julian Assange was wrong.
He said that the ramifications of his actions were now 'clear to me' and that he had reached these conclusions during 'self-reflection' throughout the three years he has already spent in custody.
Speaking quickly and mumbling slightly, Manning said, 'How on earth could I, a junior analyst, believe I could change the world for the better?'
'I understand I must pay a price for my decisions and actions.
'I have flaws and issues that have to deal with. But I know that I can and will be a better person. I hope that you can give me the opportunity to prove, not through words, but through conduct, that I am a good person.'
Pressure: Bradley Manning, shown as he is escorted from court on July 30, was put under stress by his gender identity struggle, an Army psychologist has testified at his sentencing in Maryland
Earlier today, an Army psychologist has testified that Bradley Manning's private struggle with his gender identity in a hostile workplace put incredible pressure on the soldier.
Capt. Michael Worsley spoke at Manning's sentencing hearing at Fort Meade, near Baltimore on Wednesday, where the former intelligence analyst is expected to deliver a statement later today.
'I am Sorry but Unfortunately I Can't Go Back and Change Things': Bradley Manning's Statement in Full
'First, your honor, I want to start off with an apology. I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry I 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 uintentended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people.
The last few years have been a learning experience. I look back at my decisions and wonder how on earth could I, a junior analyst, possibly believe I could change the world for the better on decisions of those with the proper authority.
In retrospect I should have worked more aggressively inside the system, as we discussed during the statement, I had options and I should have used these options.
Unfortunately, I can't go back and change things. I can only go forward. I want to go forward. Before I can do that, I understand that I must pay a price for my decisions and actions.
Once I pay that price, I hope to one day live in a manner that I haven't been able to in the past. I want to be a better person, to go to college, to get a degree and to have a meaningful relationship with my sister with my sister's family and my family.
I want to be a positive influence in their lives, just as my Aunt Deborah has been to me. I have flaws and issues that I have to deal with, but I know that I can and will be a better person.
I hope that you can give me the opportunity to prove, not through words, but through conduct, that I am a good person and that I can return to productive place in society. Thank you, Your Honor.'
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 uintentended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people.
The last few years have been a learning experience. I look back at my decisions and wonder how on earth could I, a junior analyst, possibly believe I could change the world for the better on decisions of those with the proper authority.
In retrospect I should have worked more aggressively inside the system, as we discussed during the statement, I had options and I should have used these options.
Unfortunately, I can't go back and change things. I can only go forward. I want to go forward. Before I can do that, I understand that I must pay a price for my decisions and actions.
Once I pay that price, I hope to one day live in a manner that I haven't been able to in the past. I want to be a better person, to go to college, to get a degree and to have a meaningful relationship with my sister with my sister's family and my family.
I want to be a positive influence in their lives, just as my Aunt Deborah has been to me. I have flaws and issues that I have to deal with, but I know that I can and will be a better person.
I hope that you can give me the opportunity to prove, not through words, but through conduct, that I am a good person and that I can return to productive place in society. Thank you, Your Honor.'
Manning, , who was apparently considering transitioning to become female, eventually came out to the therapist and emailed Worsley a photo of himself dressed as a woman, wearing a blonde wig and lipstick.
The photo was attached to a letter titled 'My problem', in which Manning described his problems with gender identity and his hopes that a military career would 'get rid of it'.
In a web chat in May 2010, he also said that he was 'waiting to redeploy to the US, be discharged... and figure out how on earth I'm going to transition'.
Worsley characterized the soldier as alone and isolated while at his post in the southeast of Baghdad. He added that this isolation was aggravated as he struggled with being gay in a 'hyper-masculine' military environment.
'He was going it alone, and really felt alone,' Worsley said. 'Being in the military and having a gender identity issue does not exactly go hand-in-hand.
'It further served to isolate him, and at that time the military was not exactly friendly to the gay community or anybody who held views as such. I don't know that it's friendly now either.'
He added: 'You put him in that kind of hyper-masculine environment, if you will, with little support and few coping skills, the pressure would have been difficult to say the least. It would have been incredible.'
Worsley's testimony described some military leaders as lax at best and obstructionist at worst when it came to tending to troop mental health.
He said some in Manning's brigade 'had difficulty understanding' recommendations the doctor would make regarding the needs of some soldiers.
'I questioned why they would want to leave somebody in a position with the issue they had,' Worsley said of troubled soldiers.
Manning's lawyers argue that Manning showed clear signs of deteriorating mental health that should have prevented commanders from sending him to a warzone to handle classified information.
Earlier in the hearing, the former master sergeant whom Manning first sent the picture to faced tough questions over why he chose to ignore it.
'This is my problem,' Manning wrote in an email to Master Sgt. Paul Adkins in April 2010. 'I've had signs of it for a very long time. It's caused problems within my family. I thought a career in the military would get rid of it.'
He added: 'Now, the consequences of it are dire, at a time when it's causing me great pain in itself.'
Adkins did not forward this email to his supervisor until nearly half a year after Manning's arrest.
He explained: 'I really didn't think at the time that having a picture floating around of one of my soldiers in drag was in the best interest of the mission, the intel mission, Sir.'
Troubled time: Manning was isolated and alone in the Army because of his desire to dress in female clothing
'Red flags': Defense attorneys said superiors should have recognized issues Manning was having
After receiving the email, Adkins wrote a memo stating that Manning's instability 'is a constant source of concern' and that this was 'symptomatic of a deeper medical condition, unknown at this time' - but he did not mention the photograph or Manning's anxiety.A month later, Adkins found Manning sitting in the fetal position in his room with an exposed blade at his side. He had carved 'I want' in a chair.
Adkins reassigned Manning to his workstation - and hours later, Manning punched his counselor.
'I wrongly assessed that he was stable enough to conduct his shift,' Adkins said on Tuesday.
Younger years: Manning, who was apparently considering transitioning to become a woman when he returned from the warzone, has said he does not like seeing pictures of himself as a young boy
Struggle: Manning, pictured as a child, was bullied throughout school for being gay, friends have said
Manning had a troubled childhood growing up in Crescent, Oklahoma and Wales, where he was often teased by schoolmates for being gay. He came out to his mother in 2006 and he revealed that he has struggled with his gender identity.
'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 a boy,' he recently told the New York Times.
Leaked: Manning was convicted of leaking more than 700,000 documents from a classified government computer network while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2010
The former junior intelligence analyst could end that silence later today when his attorneys read a statement to the court, a military spokesman said.
Its content is unknown. It would be the first time Manning has spoken publicly at length since late February, when he read a 10,000-word statement in a pre-trial hearing.
Chief defense attorney David Coombs is expected to conclude his case for a lenient sentence on Wednesday after calling a dozen witnesses.
Judge Colonel Denise Lind could sentence Manning immediately after the defense finishes.
Support: Many consider Manning a hero for leaking the information, while others deem him a traitor. Here, a protest gathers outside of the gates at Fort Meade, Maryland during his trial last month
A dozen people were killed, including two Reuters news staff, and WikiLeaks dubbed the footage 'Collateral Murder'.
Lind, the judge, convicted Manning of 20 charges, including espionage and theft, on July 30. He was found not guilty of the most serious count, aiding the enemy, which carried a life sentence.
Prosecutors argued that Manning was an arrogant soldier who aided al Qaeda militants and harmed the United States with the release of the documents.
His attorneys have countered that the Army ignored his mental health problems and violent outbursts and that computer security at Manning's base was lax. They contended that Manning, who is gay, was naive but well-intentioned and suffering from a sexual identity crisis in Iraq.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2393831/Army-releases-photo-Bradley-Manning-dressed-woman-emailed-therapist--private-takes-stand-apologize-leaking-documents-WikiLeaks.html#ixzz2c5EgRfiv
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