Story of a human being: Who gets to be Bradley Manning?

EnlargeBradley Manning (Credit: AP/Patrick Semansky)

A short, sad apology was made on Wednesday in a Fort Meade military courtroom. Just who made the apology — who is Bradley Manning — will become the stuff of history books. For all its seeming simplicity, it is a complicated question indeed, which cuts to the heart of the sentencing portion of this historic case.
Manning’s sentencing — the decision about how much of a possible 90-year sentence for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks the whistle-blower will serve — has seemingly come down to a referendum on Manning as a person. It has been decided which laws Manning has broken; it has been admitted that the leaks led to no American deaths and an unproven amount of U.S. diplomatic discomfort. The sentencing arguments have now focused squarely on Manning’s person. This, despite the fact that for over 1,000 days in pretrial military detention, the 25-year-old has been denied the most basic vestiges of personhood afforded U.S. citizens.
So who offered an apology to military Judge Denise Lind on Wednesday?
Some will say that Bradley Manning — a naive but well-intentioned whistle-blower — apologized for any potential harms his leaks may have caused his country (even though Pentagon testimony could show no American deaths as a result of Manning’s leak of classified documents). “I did not fully appreciate the broader effects of my actions,” Manning told the court.
Some will say that the apology came from Bradley Manning, a dangerous and unpatriotic former military analyst with machinations to attack the United States. “I understood what I was doing, and decisions I made,” Manning said.
Some will say the apology came from Bradley Manning, a brave, articulate truth-teller hoping to lessen his sentence with a performative mea culpa. “When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people,” Manning said Wednesday.
Some will say it was Breanna Manning who apologized; a traumatized, fragile soldier who identifies as female. “At the time of my decisions, as you know, I was dealing with a lot of issues, issues that are ongoing and continuing to affect me,” the soldier said.
There are more versions of this story still. But the point is this: Bradley Manning’s sentencing has become about an issue so basic but so deeply complicated at the same time — who is Bradley Manning? Who does Bradley Manning get to be?