Earlier this week, the soldier accused of leaking thousands of confidential documents to WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, was handed an additional 22 charges as part of his ongoing court martial process. The 23-year-old, who has been in solitary confinement for more than seven months, stands accused of computer fraud, theft of public records and willfully communicating classified information to a person not entitled to receive it. He now also finds himself faced with a rare charge known as “aiding the enemy” – a capital offence for which he could face the death penalty.
Lots of stories this past week on blogs and alternative websites about him being stripped naked in his cell and worse (solitary for months, etc).
Apparently, guards are forcing Bradley Manning to strip in his cell—a humiliation tactic guards use in Guantanamo Bay. A spokesman for the Marines referred to this as, “standard operating procedure.”
Could the President who stopped torture and wanted Gitmo closed be so bold as to move it here? Can’t be! It must be a lone, rogue, out of control officer (a woman, no less!) doing these nasty things.
Given these circumstances, the decision to strip PFC Manning of his clothing every night for an indefinite period of time is clearly punitive in nature. There is no mental health justification for the decision. There is no basis in logic for this decision. PFC Manning is under 24 hour surveillance, with guards never being more than a few feet away from his cell. PFC Manning is permitted to have his underwear and clothing during the day, with no apparent concern that he will harm himself during this time period. Moreover, if Brig officials were genuinely concerned about PFC Manning using either his underwear or flip-flops to harm himself (despite the recommendation of the Brig’s psychiatrist) they could undoubtedly provide him with clothing that would not, in their view, present a risk of self-harm.
John and Adam discussed this on No Agenda with Adam suggesting Manning doesn’t exist. The CIA released the docs to Wikileaks to embarrass Hillary, certain governments, etc, and Manning is a cover story. Far fetched, but his point is where are the interviews with family, friends, his gay lovers (if fake, a perfect addition for the homophobic US)? Also, how did such a low level soldier get such easy access to just these particular materials? If he could, has far more been stolen by others? Or is this also part of a fake story?
What’s your take on Manning and his treatment? Assuming he really exists…
There was a really good explanation of the method of how this guy the info on the SecurityNow! podcast maybe a month ago.
It was due to an information sharing tool that would copy and make available the diplomatic cable if a specific flag was added. Dept of State people were mistakenly told to flag ALL their cables like that.
The system was supposedly very poorly designed. No way of telling who should, did, exported any specific bit of information.
The guy was caught because his local machine was searched and had data he’d exported from the system.
My understanding was that Manning was a private in the US Army. Then I heard more than a couple of talking heads on news shows refer to the leaker as a young “officer”.
Could the talking heads be so totally clueless that they would refer to an enlisted man as an officer?
Eh, yea, they probably could be that clueless.
You’d have to be a hydrocephalic pinhead, living under a rock, in order to not see the painfully obvious fact that WikiLeaks is a government PSYOP.
If the government didn’t want any of the info reported, you can bet that the corporate owned mainstream media would bend over backwards to accommodate. Instead, they hyped WikiLeaks to death with a concerted media circus barrage. These things don’t happen without a coordinated effort.
Just look at their behavior during the runup to the Iraq war for proof of such behavior.
We used to be a more just nation before George W. Bush!!!! We have since adopted some of the USSR ethics.
As Dostoyevsky note in his apocryphal quote, “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons”?
“We used to be a more just nation before George W. Bush!!!! We have since adopted some of the USSR ethics.”
Don’t believe it. GW was an ass, but he was only one in a long line puppets/power hungry people throughout history, current president included. Take “this” to the bank, Obama. You’re a liar.
Gee, in the America I know and love, someone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. That must be why so many tea baggers are ready to hang the guy already.
@ #33, I might agree with you if the MSM was actually reporting on piles of cables, but the truth is, the amount of coverage on Assange and a broken condom dwarfs all released cables combined. Stranger things have happened though so I suppose time will tell.
I think that what Manning did should be mandatory not forbidden.
(Since everything should be either mandatory or forbidden.)
Adam Curry does it again…. once he starts to get normal he goes so far off that it is EMBARRASSING!!! And poor John has to make the best of it.
Sometimes I wonder if I bother to follow and contribute anymore. It is like Stern in the old days, to shock for the sake of attention… Why divert form the good analysis and deconstruction of the powers. Why come up with something as stupid as Julian Asange and now Manning being either invented persons or undercover CIA or whatever. I am frankly loosing interest…