WikiLeaks accused Bradley Manning 'should never have been sent to Iraq'

[Geee]

UK Guardian:


The American soldier at the centre of the WikiLeaks revelations was so mentally fragile before his deployment to Iraq that he wet himself, threw chairs around, shouted at his commanding officers and was regularly brought in for psychiatric evaluations, according to an investigative film produced by the Guardian.

Bradley Manning, who was detained a year ago on Sunday in connection with the biggest security leak in US military history, was a "mess of a child" who should never have been put through a tour of duty in Iraq, according to an officer from the Fort Leonard Wood military base in Missouri, where Manning trained in 2007.

The officer's words reinforce a leaked confidential military report that reveals that other senior officers thought he was unfit to go to Iraq. "He was harassed so much that he once pissed in his sweatpants," the officer said.

"I escorted Manning a couple of times to his 'psych' evaluations after his outbursts. They never should have trapped him in and recycled him in [to Iraq]. Never. Not that mess of a child I saw with my own two eyes. No one has mentioned the army's failure here – and the discharge unit who agreed to send him out there," said the officer, who asked not to be identified because of the hostility towards Manning in the military.

"I live in an area where I would be persecuted if I said anything against the army or helped Manning," the officer said.

Despite several violent outbursts and a diagnosis of adjustment disorder, a condition that meant he was showing difficulty adjusting to military life, Manning was eventually sent to Iraq, where it is alleged he illegally downloaded thousands of sensitive military and diplomatic documents and passed them on to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

In Iraq, Manning retained his security clearance to work as an intelligence specialist.

Two months after his arrival, the bolt was removed from his rifle because he was thought to be a danger, his lawyer, David Coombs, has confirmed.

[Sanguine]

I have heard or read many times comments like, "he needs to go into the military to: grow-up, become a man, learn discipline", etc. This is a great example of why those are bad ideas. Our service members don't need this.

[pollyannaish]

The military is not infallible, and neither are the decisions of those in the military. Growing up and being mentally stable is something that must be done BEFORE military service, not during—especially in this day and age. This is not my grandfather's generation.

[Valin]

Assuming the article is correct (Can we say court martial defense strategy?), he should never have gotten through basic.

[Sanguine]

Assuming the article is correct (Can we say court martial defense strategy?), he should never have gotten through basic.

 

That is correct, Valin - he shouldn't have. But, the US military is being run as a social experiment right now, rather than a primarily fighting machine. It is a testament to our service members that they still maintain a strong fighting force in spite of all the experimentation and bureaucracy.

[AceRimmer]

Assuming the article is correct (Can we say court martial defense strategy?), he should never have gotten through basic.

 

That is correct, Valin - he shouldn't have. But, the US military is being run as a social experiment right now, rather than a primarily fighting machine. It is a testament to our service members that they still maintain a strong fighting force in spite of all the experimentation and bureaucracy.

 

When I went through basic in '87, he'd never have lasted two weeks. If you can make it past that, it's all downhill. I don't know how the Marines do it, but in the Army, they break you down in those first two weeks, then build you back up over the next six weeks. AIT was a breeze...