One can only imagine what Bradley Manning has gone through since his arrest.
Based on the media coverage surrounding his treatment, one would have to assume the U.S. government has found Bradley Manning guilty prior to his trial.
Manning is accused of copying classified, high-level military cables and then delivering them to WikiLeaks. After his arrest, the U.S. government tried to prove there was a direct relationship between Julian Assange and Manning, but they gave up that tactic weeks ago. Assange has appealed an extradition ruling, which would send him back to Sweden to face rape charges, and Manning is locked up in a Marine Corps Brig in Virginia.
The U.S. recently charged Manning with “aiding the enemy.” Whether this means the U.S. has identified the WikiLeaks organization as, “the enemy,” or they are referring to the fact that Manning made private U.S. information available to say, North Korea, is unclear. What is clear is that the U.S. wants Manning dead or in prison for life.
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.”
Pentagon Press Secretary (worst job in the world?), Geoff Morrell, went on the record stating that Manning’s alleged mistreatment was more or less a left-wing fantasy, and that any time Manning has been isolated it was for his own protection, “because of the charges.”
Until media outlets like “The New Yorker” and “The Times” blew the doors wide open on the character of our soldiers by investigating prisoner treatment in Gitmo, we assumed our country was on a mercurial, but at least righteous, path; not any more. We all know how Manning is being treated. How? Because we read WikiLeaks.
Julian Assange claims he fears extradition to Sweden because the U.S. will rendition him, possibly to Gitmo, where he’ll be killed or tortured or both. Any mistreatment of Manning vindicates Assange’s claims. If they’re torturing the guy who uploaded some files, what are they going to do to the figurehead who released them?
Yes, in the public conscious, Manning and Assange are inextricably linked. It’s just not in the way the U.S. had hoped.
March 07, 2011 at 5:01 pm, john charles webb jr said:
Re: Bradley Manning
Do you suppose his supervising officers have been disciplined ? , removed from their positions ? , how long did his supervisors know that there were leaks in their computer systems (MILITARY) ?
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March 09, 2011 at 4:34 pm, Rod Neswick said:
American shame …..Bradley manning,quantanimo,Afganistan ,Iraq,Cia,etc. American facism wrapped in the American flag and holding the bible….what a nightmare!!!!!
March 21, 2011 at 7:37 pm, Umadbro said:
Wow… this is total crap. lol He is forced to strip BEFORE BED. This way he cannot try to suffocate himself with his own clothing. Which people have tried to do.