Alex Gibney’s poster for ‘We Steal Secrets.

Alex Gibney’s “We Steal Secrets” chronicles WikiLeaks’ front-page, world-shocking 2010 leaks from inception to publication to aftermath, framing WikiLeaks’ work as a meteoric rise giving way to a self-incurred implosion.

While I find fault with this view, and even its premise that WikiLeaks has failed and died (the site continues to publish Stratfor emails and Kissinger files, it just won an important Swedish victory to resume accepting donations through Visa interlocutors, and the Freedom of the Press foundation continues to funnel anonymous contributions its way), I’d rather let others dissect its portrayal of Assange and WikiLeaks and instead focus on how it characterizes Bradley Manning. (Read WikiLeaks’ annotated copy of the film’s script here.)

Earlier this year, we took issue with some of director Alex Gibney’s comments associating whistleblowing with alienation, pathologizing Manning’s leaks and undermining his political values. Producer Sam Black emailed to assure us that, in fact, Bradley Manning is “a hero in the film. He is the moral and emotional center of a complex story about what should and should not be secret.”

Though the movie does laudably transition away from its opening focus on Julian Assange by reminding viewers that Manning is the courageous whistleblower who deserves at least as much public attention, Manning’s story only makes it into about a quarter of the two-hour film, which quotes journalists, former WikiLeaks members, high-ranking government officials, and fellow soldiers. 

The time that is spent on Manning leaves much to be desired, and what it leaves out is as much to blame as what it includes. Ultimately, the resulting portrait of Bradley Manning is one of pity more than empathy, one that makes us feel bad for Manning rather than take a serious interest in his beliefs and his plight. 

Near the end of the film, journalist James Ball says, “Whistleblowing is an isolating act,” because it forces one to make public things that your peers and friends want to keep secret. But the film’s portrayal reverses that succession, seeming to imply that whistleblowing follows from alienation, not the other way around.

The filmmakers could have avoided this pat and familiar narrative with mere patience: a few short months after production was finished, PFC Bradley Manning provided the most salient, film-ready testimony a director could want – his 10,000-word statement explaining his Army work and decision to release documents to WikiLeaks.

In that statement, Manning passionately articulates his reasoning:

I felt that we were risking so much for people that seemed unwilling to cooperate with us, leading to frustration and anger on both sides. I began to become depressed with the situation that we found ourselves increasingly mired in year after year. The [war logs] documented this in great detail and provide a context of what we were seeing on the ground.

He shines light on his mindset at the time and his political convictions: 

I felt this sense of relief by [WikiLeaks] having [the information]. I felt I had accomplished something that allowed me to have a clear conscience based upon what I had seen and what I had read about and knew were happening in both Iraq and Afghanistan everyday.

He vividly conveys his revulsion: 

The most alarming aspect of the video to me…was the seemly delightful bloodlust the Aerial Weapons Team seemed to have. They dehumanized the individuals they were engaging and seemed to not value human life, and referred to them as quote-unquote “dead bastards,” and congratulated each other on their ability to kill in large numbers….For me, this seemed similar to a child torturing ants with a magnifying glass.

Gibney couldn’t have necessarily known that such a statement was coming. But he would’ve been given this windfall of valuable audio had he not worked to release the film so early. The film is slated to premiere today. Bradley Manning’s trial will begin on June 3, in just over a week. If this were a civilian case, would the release of a major film about its defendant just days before his trial began appear unreasonable? Is Gibney trying too hard to get the story out there just in time for Manning to make the news again?

With the leaked audio published by the Freedom of the Press foundation, Gibney could have used those words above to take a holistic view of Manning while giving real credence to his political motivations. Instead, he relied on fellow soldiers’ memories and the infamous chat logs with Adrian Lamo. 

Gibney did make some good use of those chat logs, highlighting a major turning point for Manning in the Army that many forget or minimize: his refusal to be complicit in the detention of innocuous Iraqi dissidents that he knew would be tortured and possibly killed. But beyond this incident, Gibney left us wanting for Manning’s observations and motivations. Why not include his comments on the first world exploiting the third, on almost criminal backroom deals?

The film simply focuses too much on Manning’s personality, and since it relies heavily on Adrian Lamo’s reflections and Manning’s fellow soldiers’ recollections, the remaining portrait is that of a gender-confused weirdo prone to outbursts. It affords extensive time to Jihrleah Showman, a government witness in Bradley’s Article 32 hearing in December 2011, to recount Manning’s emotional flare-ups, and at one point during her interview, Gibney leaves an unflattering photo of Manning up for 10 seconds. Is this really getting to the heart of what Manning’s case and struggle are about?

Gibney isn’t necessarily malicious: he doesn’t really blame Manning for his behavior, implying rather that he probably shouldn’t have been deployed to Iraq in the first place. The view is not one of scorn, but one of pity. In so doing, Gibney subtly removes Manning’s agency, characterizing him more as honorable victim than brave whistleblower.

In one portion, Gibney wonders why Manning’s chain of command wasn’t reprimanded further for allowing him to release these classified documents so easily. Why not take them to equal task for telling him to shut up when he brought Iraqi corruption to their attention? Why not take the government to further task for failing to prosecute the criminals that Manning exposed? Gibney only hints at these questions where a deeper exploration is desperately needed.

The problem isn’t that ‘We Steal Secrets’ fails to cheerlead for Bradley Manning’s every move. It’s that it conflates nuance with the government’s emphasis on personal issues over political convictions. 

Sitting behind Bradley in the courtroom for a year and a half, it’s obvious that he’s not interested in our pity, but certainly needs our support.

The Huffington Post quotes the coalition’s legal defense:

“The federal civilian courts are now our last option,” said Shayana Kadidal, a senior attorney at the non-profit legal group representing the plaintiffs, the Center for Constitutional Rights. “If this lawsuit fails, Manning’s trial will take place under conditions where journalists and the public will be unable as a practical matter to follow what is going on in the courtroom.”

This renewed effort comes just as military judge Col. Denise Lind ruled to close the court during trial for 24 of the government’s witnesses because they’re expected to divulge classified information.

This suit is especially important given the Pentagon’s half-hearted – to put it generously – attempt to make some documents public. In late February, the DOD established a FOIA Reading Room dedicated to publishing legal filings in Manning’s case. But it has only made 85 of the 500+ documents public, hasn’t added any new ones since March 15, and has not made any of the most newsworthy or legally significant rulings available.

Petition for Bradley Manning to get the Nobel Peace Prize nears 50,000 signatures. RootsAction is collecting signatures for those who support Manning receiving the Peace Prize, for which he has been nominated three years in a row. Sign here!

“I’m from Melbourne, Australia. I’m a mum and business owner. I oppose government injustice, brutality and extortion of power. Bradley Manning is a hero and his detention is evidence that the government has a hidden agenda. He needs to be released NOW as his imprisonment is morally wrong and unconstitutional.”

 iam.bradleymanning.org

A thousand people from around the country will descend on Ft. Meade, Maryland, to show their support for Army whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning in a mass demonstration on Saturday, June 1. They will use marching, theater, creative visuals and other actions to protest against his imprisonment two days before his court-martial trial is set to begin, on June 3, 2013.

Speakers for the rally will include Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower; Ethan McCord, the soldier who saved the children attacked in the Collateral Murder video released by WikiLeaks; Col. Ann Wright (ret.), the most senior state department official to resign in protest of the Iraq war; Birgitta Jonsdottir, Icelandic parliamentarian and co-producer of the Collateral Murder video; Sarah Shourd, hiker imprisoned by Iran turned prisoner rights activists; and Lt. Dan Choi, prominent anti-Don’t Ask Don’t Tell activist featured on the Rachel Maddow show.

Buses will be coming to the event from Syracuse, NY, New York City, Philadelphia, Willimantic, CT, New Brunswick, NJ, Baltimore and Washington D.C. and more supporters will be joining them from across the country and the world. 

Bradley Manning’s actions exposed the true number of civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S.-supported torture in Iraq, and a pattern of corporate influence on U.S. foreign policy worldwide. Despite pleading guilty to charges of mishandling classified information, which could put him in jail for up to 20 years, the military is pursuing 22 charges including one count of “aiding the enemy,” which carries a sentence of life without parole. By the time Manning’s trial begins on June 3, he will have been in prison for more than three years since his arrest in May 2010.

With less than two weeks remaining before the start of Bradley’s trial, time is short. We need your help in prioritizing a number of possible projects in these last few days. With our current budget, we’ll be able to do a few of these things, at least to some degree. However, we’re trying to gage interest and support for specific projects that might be fully funded via “crowdsourcing.”

* Project description and budget

* Your opinion of the importance of this project:
(1-not important, 2-marginally important, 3-important, 4 very important, 5 most important)

* How likely would you be to contribute to such a project?
1-would not contribute, 2-unlikely to contribute, 3-would consider contributing, 4-anticipate contributing, 5-definitely would contribute)

Complete the Survey

By Nathan Fuller. May 21, 2013. 

Bradley Manning supporter protesting at Ft. Meade.

Bradley Manning returned to Ft. Meade, MD, for a one-day pretrial hearing, the last such session before his court martial will begin on June 3, 2013. Today’s hearing covered various issues surrounding classified information: namely, how it will be handled at trial, and how much of the court martial will be closed off to the press and public.

Rulings on classified information: some trial sessions will be closed

Judge Denise Lind made two rulings based on the previous closed session, on May 8, when Ambassador Don Yamamoto testified in a ‘dry run.’

In that session, she found that the defense’s proposed alternatives to closing trial during testimony that will elicit classified information – such as using code words, redactions, or substitutions – were inadequate, and therefore the court will be closed for the classified portions of 24 more government witnesses. The government is ordered to speedily provide a (likely heavily redacted) transcript of those closed sessions.

Judge Lind also ruled to narrow what the government will be allowed to present when it attempts to prove that Bradley had reason to believe certain classified information could be used to harm the United States if made public. 

The government can show more than that the documents in question were merely classified, and it can provide some context for the documents’ content and hypothetical damage it could cause. But it can’t delve too deeply into that context, because the defense will be allowed to challenge that context in court, and Judge Lind doesn’t want the court martial to “devolve into many trials regarding international politics in many regions of world.” 

Government drops one CFAA specification

Before those arguments began, almost in passing, the government revealed that it is no longer pursuing the greater charges for Specification 14 of Charge 2. Specification 14 refers to the Reykjavik-13 cable, and the greater offense is violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In February, Bradley pled guilty to a lesser-included offense of that specification, one that carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail. The greater offense carried a 10-year maximum sentence, but the government is dropping that for the Reykjavik cable alone.

In the charge sheet, that cable was separated from the remainder of the Department of State cables, which are contained in Specification 13. It was separated because the government alleged that the bulk of the State Dept. cables were released between March 28, 2010, and May 27, 2010, but that the Reykjavik-13 cable was released between February 15, 2010, and February 18, 2010. The defense challenged the latter dates, and now the government has dropped it. 

Stipulation of facts regarding OBL raid

It was also revealed that the defense and government have agreed to enter a stipulation of facts regarding the evidence found from Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound as an appellate exhibit. That document stipulates that during that raid, the U.S. collected digital media which included three items: (1) a letter from Osama bin Laden to a member of Al Qaeda requesting that the member gather defense material posted to WikiLeaks, (2), a letter from the same member of Al Qaeda to Osama bin Laden, attached to which was the Afghan. War Log as posted by WikiLeaks, and (3) Dept. of State information released by WikiLeaks.

The parties stipulating to these facts could remove the need for the government’s classified ‘John Doe’ witness to testify. 

Join follow Bradley Manning supporters on one of these many chartered buses on June 1st. More information about the Mass Rally for Bradley @ Ft. Meade, June 1

Bus from Baltimore, MD

Leaving June 1st at 11:30 am from The 2640 Space at 2640 St. Paul Street, Baltimore.
Contact baltimore@bradleymanning.org, or better yet, reserve your seat today ($10).

Bus from New York City

Leaving June 1st at 7:30am from 1270 Broadway (near Penn Station), NYC.
Reserve your seat today ($20).

Bus from Washington, DC

Leaving June 1st at 11:30am from in front of Union Station, Washington, DC.
Contact malachy@bradleymanning.org, or better yet, reserve your seat today ($10).

Bus from Willimantic (Hartford/Windham area), CT

Leaving June 1st at 2:00am from downtown Willimantic at the corner of Rt 66 & Rt 195.
Contact Bill Potvin to reserve your seat today ($40), phone 860-423-5085
Will arrive back in Willimantic approx. 24 hours later

Bus from New Brunswick, NJ

Bus from Syracuse, NY

Van from Minneapolis, MN

Located outside these cities, but interested in organizing others to go to Ft. Meade? We are offering small grants to help with organizing buses and vans to carpool to Ft. Meade for June 1st!

Sam Seder discusses the media reaction, and comments that maybe now that journalists themselves are under attack that maybe they will wake up to the whistleblower issue:

Chris Hedges calls the Department of Justice actions another “terrifying assault on press freedom”. He is interviewed on Democracy Now:

One of our Founding Fathers and the featured face of the hundred dollar bill, Benjamin Franklin, was known for sending classified information to Sons of Liberty, a group of radicals that wanted to separate America from the rule of the Kingdom in England.

In 1773, Benjamin Franklin leaked private letters that revealed what people in the royal government secretly believed — namely that “there must be an abridgement” of the liberties that American Colonists enjoyed.  In his words, he had merely acted as a “public messenger,” believing that Americans in the 18th century had the right to know that British officials were threatening the very principles of good government. Much like our modern day hero, Bradley Manning, who wanted to serve the public to help them make informed decisions.

To read more on this story, please click here.

What Cornel West represents and why he represents it?

In an article published last Sunday, May 12th, by the Guardian, Cornel West discussed his lifelong career as an activist and educator. West, who began teaching at the Union Theologiocal Seminary in New York, said of his recent encounter with Julian Assange: “They’re trying to squelch any whistleblower who wants to reveal the secrets of the dirty wars of the US empires and other governments. We talked primarily about courage.” Cornel West interviewed Julian Assange for his US popular public radio show “Smiley and West.”

To read more on this story, please click here

Becoming the empire’s “prey.” Julian Assange speaks to Chris Hedges in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Chris Hedges has recently interviewed the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been in the Ecuadorian embassy since he was offered sanctuary there last June. Julian Assange is living in limbo since the British government has rejected an Ecuadorean request that Assange be granted safe passage to an airport. It is, he said, like living in a “space station.”

To read more on this story, please click here

Join us at Fort Meade. June 1, 2013

June 1st will mark the beginning of Bradley Manning’s fourth year in prison and the start of his trial. The June 1st Ft. Meade protest for Bradley Manning will be the largest action of our campaign! People across the nation (and the globe) will converge on Ft. Meade to stand up for the Army whistle-blower who risked everything to give the public real facts about our government’s wars in the Middle East and foreign policy worldwide.

Join Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg, LGBT activist US Army Lt. Dan Choi, former US diplomat US Army Col. Ann Wright (ret.), and former soldier Ethan McCord–who rescued the wounded children in the van in the Collateral Murder video—and hundreds of our supporters of heroic WikiLeaks whistle-blower Bradley Manning at Ft. Meade. Together we’ll make history.

Visit our new guide to transportation & lodging near Ft. Meade for help planning your trip.

For those unable to travel to Ft. Meade, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and the Bradley Manning Support Network, are also calling for solidarity actions from June 1st-June 8th worldwide. Click here for detailed listing of the events.

If you have planned an event or action, please register it on our website so we can promote it to other supporters in your area. Interested in organizing something but want some ideas, materials, or help contacting other activists in your area? Contact farah@bradleymanning.org for assistance
!

Vivienne Westwood supporting Bradley Manning at the 2013 Met Ball.

Vivienne Westwood was cut off by her Vogue interviewer at the Met Ball when she spoke out on behalf of Bradley Manning. New York magazine “The Cut” reports:

Monday night at the Met Gala, Vivienne Westwood took her turn on the Vogue livestream and wouldn’t answer Billy Norwich’s question about what designer she was wearing. Instead, she wanted to talk about her jewelry: A laminated photo of the Wikileaks revolutionary Bradley Manning, attached by safety pins to her pastel robes. “When I did punk all those years ago, [it was about the same thing]: Justice and [trying to] have a better world,” she explained. “I’ve got different methods nowadays.” Then she wanted to keep going – “I’ve got one more thing to say,” she added, gesturing to the guy beside her – before she got cut-off/interrupted… 

Vivienne Westwood is a famous fashion designer credited with building on punk fashion. She is a long time social activist. Read her blog here.