The Passion of Chelsea Manning: The Story of the Suspect Behind the Largest Security Breach in U.S. History

by Chase Madar

In May 2010, an intelligence analyst in the US Army's 10th Mountain Division was arrested on suspicion of leaking nearly half a million classified government documents, including the infamous "Collateral Murder" gunsight video and 260,000 State Department cables. After nine months in solitary confinement, the suspect now awaits court-martial in Fort Leavenworth. He is 24, comes from Crescent, Oklahoma, and his name is Bradley Manning.

Who is Private First Class Bradley Manning? Why did he allegedly commit the largest security breach in American history - and why was it so easy? Is Manning a traitor or a whistleblower? Is long-term isolation an outrage to American values - or the new norm? Are the leaks revolutionary or a sensational nonevent? Which is the greater security threat, routinized elite secrecy or flashes of transparency? And what impact does new information really have?

The astonishing leaks attributed to Bradley Manning are viewed from many angles, from Tunisia to Guantnamo Bay, from Foggy Bottom to Baghdad to small-town Oklahoma. Around the world, the eloquent alleged act of one young man obliges citizens to ask themselves if they have the right to know what their government is doing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

First published April 1, 2011

Reviews

[Fr. Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book, but more thorough than one might expect. While the focus is B. Manning and WikiLeaks, author Chase Madar paints the landscape for us, the landscape of how laws and secrecy and politics and justice all pretty much fail to work in a consistent way, and how we live in a perverse world of double standards. The deck is stacked against us all. Here's a quote from the book itself, which I think could serve as a thesis for the author's main point.

"If Bradley Manning had launched a war that slaughtered hundreds of thousands; if he had shot dead Iraqi civilians: if he were a lawyer, justifying all of the above, or some general or cabinet-level official whispering state secrets to Bob Woodward over a martini - he'd emerge unscathed."

I can only hope for the best for this young man, as I agree with Madar that Manning is a real hero.

PS: I know that Manning may be transgendered, but I haven't heard anything officially to confirm this. No offense is intended by use of male-specific words in this review.

[Mary L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading The Passion of Chelsea Manning, I listened to a podcast about Manning and the leaks. This book is much more flattering toward Manning and doesn't try to pathologize or vilify Manning. Instead, the book reveals how unjust and hypocritical the U.S. government and military really are. It's a very intriguing read, especially if your unfamiliar with more recent U.S. military history (I was an oblivious kid during the period the book talks the most about).

[Kalle Wescott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read /The Passion of Bradley Manning: The Story Behind the Wikileaks Whistleblower/, by Chase Madar:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24543753

Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning are among my heroes. I don't think I would have had the courage to do what they did.

So I have to know the details. There isn't much print on Chelsea, but this book was well-researched.

[Randall Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this because tom englehardt and anthony arnove recommended it. it's clearly the book to read about manning. this is a story about how a government, with a pathological need for secrecy that trumps the will of the people and basic ethics, overreacts out against it's strongest truth tellers. chelsea/bradley wanted the same thing as edward snowden - to spark debates and reforms (THE SAME THING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT - WHAT A SURPRISE!) - yet if you can get an ordinary cocktail party in america to talk about manning's plight or the guantanamo hunger strikers for an even five minutes then you are better than i am.

highlights of this book:

"a popular government, without popular information, is but a prelude to a tragedy or farce, or perhaps both." - James Madison
only in 2011 did the NSA begin declassifying documents from the Madison Presidency in 1809. wow!
when the Haitian Government moved to raise it's hourly wage from 22 to 61 cents per hour the US immediately responded by carving out an exception! i'm sorry but how sick is that? the US has the worst track record for centuries with Haiti and anyone can now see thanks to chelsea/bradley that there has been zero improvement regarding haiti no matter who has come to be in the white house.
this book brilliantly makes the point that major muckrakers like upton sinclair or jacob riij ended up making government make changes yes, but changes to protect the consumer - not the worker!
this book brilliantly mentions when hilary clinton's goons beat well known ex-CIA writer ray mcgovern black and blue because he quietly and defiantly stood up in his veterans for peace t shirt at one of her talks. scary story. got to look into that...
what we have done to chelsea/bradley manning by our silence as a nation is deplorable. 23 hours of solitary a day, no push ups or sit-ups allowed in the cell! what the heck? "enforced nudity" AND THE MOST SHOCKING THING OF ALL - every five minutes the guards ask chelsea/bradley if he is alright and he has to say yes. what other prisoner gets treatment like that in america? seriously? and i thought the eighth amendment of the constitution proscribes cruel and unusual punishment? obama is supposed to be a constitutional lawyer yet he is clearly ethically challenged on that one.
let's see, chase madar mentions that 3,000 people died in the 911 attacks and in retaliation the US has killed at least 140,000 civilians completely uninvolved with the attacks so far. that seems a fair proportional response for a country that believes it's own press - especially for a country that loves jesus so much. remember the jesus who was obsessed with peace, helping the poor and turning the other cheek? yeah, that's the one.
ellberg only released top secret material and he didn't get in trouble. so why did manning get in trouble for releasing not a SINGLE page of top secret material? another great point of mr madar.

great book, reading it will make the world a better place, especially if you talk to others about it! and it is well worth reading...

[The American Conservative]

'In a short new book about Bradley Manning, journalist and civil rights lawyer Chase Madar necessarily and appropriately looks beyond the figure of Manning himself to ask how we understand information, how we perceive our relationship to state authority, and how people who serve the armed power of the state see their own place in its project.

Writing from what often seems to be a leftist perspective, Madar nevertheless builds on a deeply conservative explanatory foundation in which political illnesses have cultural causes.'

Read the full review, "In Defense of Bradley Manning," on our website:
http://www.theamericanconservative.co...

[Rod Hensel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a pro-Manning book, but a thoughtful telling of his story as it relates to the government's need for secrecy. The author argues that his gay/transgendered status has nothing to do with his torture and imprisonment, but I disagree. I do agree with the author that Manning deserves a medal for his actions and not a prison term.