By James Tillman
August 3, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)—SPC Bradley Manning, who has been arrested and detained in connection with the leak of thousands of classified documents recently released on WikiLeaks, is a homosexual activist who has spoken out against the U.S. military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy.
The connection has led Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins to speculate that there may be a connection between Manning’s activism, and his decision to leak the documents.
“In May, when U.S. authorities arrested Army Private Bradley Manning for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks.org, there were whispers that he was politically motivated,” stated Perkins.
“It turns out that Manning is an extreme homosexual activist whose fury over the services' homosexual policy may have led him to publicize highly classified documents about the wars.”
A childhood friend of Manning, Jordan Davis, has said that the young man “came out” as gay when he was only 13.
In addition, records of an instant messenger chat Manning held with Adrian Lamo, who eventually turned Manning in to the government, seem to indicate that he thought of himself as a woman. In the chat Manning says that he would not mind going to prison or being executed for leaking the classified documents if it was not for “having pictures of me … plastered all over the world press … as [a] boy.”
However, in his discussions with Lamo about why he leaked the documents, Manning made no mention of his sexual orientation. Instead he said he leaked the secrets because he wanted “people to see the truth … regardless of who they are … because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.” Lamo has said he was dissatisfied with certain military policies and wanted to affect U.S. foreign policy.
Manning’s Facebook page reveals that he was depressed over a recent breakup with his boyfriend. One photo on the page shows him holding a sign asking for equality on the battlefield. Among his “Likes and Interests” were “REPEAL THE BAN – End ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell,’””QueerToday.com,” “Stonewall Democrats,” “LGBT America,” “Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell,” “No on Prop 8 | Don't Eliminate Marriage for Anyone,” and the homosexualist “Human Rights Campaign.”
He also “liked” Barack Obama and the openly homosexual congressman Barney Frank, who has worked to overturn “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” (DADT).
Although the Senate is considering overturning DADT, the open service of homosexuals in the military is currently forbidden. This has lead some to ask why, given Manning's open homosexuality, he was not discharged.
“Who in the Obama Administration – and the Department of Defense – was aware of his conduct and looked the other way? Was Manning given a pass because his 'lifestyle' was considered to be in favor and acceptable under the Obama Administration?” asked Cliff Kincaid on Accuracy in Media.
“The revelations of Manning's openly pro-homosexual conduct suggest that a more liberal Department of Defense policy, in deference to the wishes of the Commander-in-Chief, had already been in effect and has now backfired in a big way,” he continued. “The result could be not only the loss of the lives of U.S. soldiers, as a result of the enemy understanding U.S. intelligence sources and methods, but damaged relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan and a possible U.S. military defeat in the region as a whole.”
Admiral Mike Mullen has said that whoever leaked the information might already “have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family” because the leaked documents included the names of Afghan informants.
Bradley was born in Oklahoma, but his parents divorced in 2001, and his mother Susan Manning moved back to Wales with her son. Some have said Manning had a volatile and angry relationship with his dad.
He has been accused of downloading more than 200,000 secret cables from a computer network and sending them to Wikileaks.org.