Quantico Brig officials are struggling tonight to justify what has become an ever growing littany of charges of mistreatment against Pfc. Bradley Manning, a detainee facing a number of charges, but as yet not convicted of anything.
The latest, and easily most bizarre, move came last week, when Marines seized Bradley Manning’s clothing. He has since been forced to sleep totally nude, though he is allowed to wear underpants for parts of the day.
The moves have been called “punitive” by his lawyer, David Coombs, who notes that Manning is not under any sort of official suicide watch, and indeed that the brig’s psychiatric team has repeatedly declined to put such a watch on him, but has still had a growing number of restrictions placed on him since his detention began.
The latest measures came after Manning reported joked about the restrictions (which at that point had him down to wearing flip flops and underwear), and speculated that he might conceivably beat himself to death with his own flip flops if he really wanted to, or hang himself with his underpants, which prompted officials to seize both.
The brig has denied that the measures are intended to humiliate Manning or that they amount to detainee abuse, but have also declined to provide any alternative justification, particularly since the psychiatrists don’t consider him a risk to harm himself.
And while it was difficult to find anyone praising the latest naked abuse of power, Sen. Kerry (D – MA) was quick to defend officials, insisting that “they’re trying to preserve his safety.” A more likely alternative, however, is that they’re too lazy to do a load of laundry and are trying to conserve underpants.
And yet at the same time the US govt. is demanding that CIA kiler Raymond Davis be moved from a jail to a mansion: http://tribune.com.pk/story/128837/demand-to-lodg…
these s.o.b.'s think that they can get away with any level of abuse and violations of Manning's rights because the system is out to get Manning and will overlook it all. And unfortunately in this age of moral degeneracy in both the government and society, they're probably right.
I thought u r innocent unless proven guilty. He is yet to be charged, tried and convicted so isn't it a crime to treat innocent people in such a manner?
yea the US govt. believes in the presumption of innocence in the case of CIA officers accused of killing but not someone who contributed sources to wikileaks. A new level of hypocrisy even for the US govt.
Kerry is such an establishment "tool". Either he is traveling across the globe to try and secure the release of a CIA bag man or vomits this crap in defense of prisoner abuse. And people believe this robot?
American has become a police state and has no respect for human values only values is CIA and FBI lies.
Manning liked to chat online, which lead to his imprisonment. Despite being in detention he still makes jokes. Because he seems to be not cracking under the pressure his words are being used in an attempt to teach him a lesson. This is definitely a punitive measure.
I wonder what the attitude of his jailers is- the Marines who see him on a day-to-day basis. Do they really think he's going t obeat himself to death with a flip-flop? Do they really think he's going to hang himself with his underwear? Better yet, exactly how would one do either of those things since he's observed at least every five minutes? How long does it take to beat yourself to death with a flip-flop?
When Manning gets out of this intolerable situation and can publish his memoirs, a lot of people are going to be drummed out of the military and the govrnment for their actions, and millions more will be thoroughly disgusted with what's become of our national honor. That is, of course, assuming that within a few days of his release Manning isn't killed in a freak car accident or suffers a stroke or just decides to disappear without a trace. Tricky thing, sometimes, being a high profile prisoner who can bring down a lot of careers in a matter of minutes.
Should this make us feel proud of the USMC and the job it´s doing? Are they an example of the troops we´re suppose to be supporting?
This just keeps getting sicker and sicker. I'm finding it hard to understand how, as JohnM says, the Marines assigned to the brig justify this kind of unAmerican behavior. When I was in the Army, we were taught that we were the guardians of the rule of law…that it was our responsibility to protect and defend the Constitution… What is happening now to Manning is way off the reservation and completely unjustifiable. Why hasn't Obama been publicly asked why this is being allowed to happen? He's supposed to be the CinC. I think it's time he took responsibility for the actions of his Marines at Quantico. I've been disappointed by much of what Obama has done since taking office but this, by far, is probably one the worst assaults on the American sense of honor, such s it is now.
But, that's just this old curmudgeon's opinion…
The entire US government is corrupt and unreformable.
if this is how we treat our own people…..god help a non us citizen.what the hell happened to this country