Bradley Manning is on suicide watch. Yes, this is torture.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Accused Wikileaks source Bradley Manning's daily life in maximum security and on suicide watch, from his lawyer. Is he being softened up so that the US can get him to say what they want? What would you do after 5 months of this?



18 december 2010
A Typical Day for PFC Bradley Manning

PFC Manning is currently being held in maximum custody. Since arriving at the Quantico Confinement Facility in July of 2010, he has been held under Prevention of Injury (POI) watch.

His cell is approximately six feet wide and twelve feet in length.
...
At 5:00 a.m. he is woken up (on weekends, he is allowed to sleep until 7:00 a.m.). Under the rules for the confinement facility, he is not allowed to sleep at anytime between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. If he attempts to sleep during those hours, he will be made to sit up or stand by the guards.

...

He is not allowed to have any personal items in his cell.

He is only allowed to have one book or one magazine at any given time to read in his cell. The book or magazine is taken away from him at the end of the day before he goes to sleep.

He is prevented from exercising in his cell. If he attempts to do push-ups, sit-ups, or any other form of exercise he will be forced to stop.

...
http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/2010/12/typical...

[truedelphi]

1. Hang in there Bradley. If things continue as they seem to be doing,

Many of us may be living similar lives.

[Fridays Child]

2. So, this is what you get for taking that "all enemies, foreign and domestic" pledge seriously.

He's a hero, and I'd write him a folk song, if I knew how.

[midnight]

96. Perfectly said...

[Pavulon]

122. Yep, he is the ememy, domestic. Read the whole thing

manning pisses on it for some lulz.

[EFerrari]

3. K&R

[Catherina]

4. My heart breaks for him. I hope I live to see the people doing this to him

locked up for their crimes against humanity and suffering the same fate one day.

[thanks_imjustlurking]

92. Not a chance, I'm sorry to opine. Look at what else has been got away with. nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. How horrifying!

My heart goes out to him...

What they are doing is torture, and it is wrong.

Recommended.

[Eric J in MN]

6. In 1890, the Supreme Court almost ruled that prolonged solitary is unconstitutional.

Obviously, almost isn't enough to prevent what is being done to Bradley Manning and thousands of other US prisoners in prolonged solitary.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_...

[littlewolf]

38. POI under the rules is different then solitary confinement

POI is for the protect of the inmate due to a threat against his person ....
Solitary is punishment for breaking prison rules ....
just saying ... SCOTUS could have ruled that ... and the military (or any prison)
can say ... this is the only way we can protect this individual ...
But I understand your point ...

[Eric J in MN]

78. It wouldn't be reasonable for them to claim that

...conversing with the guards (beyond answering "yes" to "Are you OK?" every five minutes) and conversing with other prisoners who are in their cells and conversing with friends/relatives on the phone would endanger him.

[littlewolf]

81. no but walking around in the general population

might ... especially if he has received threats ....

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. That is wrong not to allow him to exercise.

They're trying to push him into a physical condition. Depression, for starters.

[patrice]

8. .

I wonder if there's ANYTHING we can do for him!

[jaxx]

12. Read the article and see that he gets an hour a day to exercise.

What was given in the OP was the bare bones, read down the page.

[Catherina]

26. Disgusting shit

He does receive one hour of “exercise” outside of his cell daily. He is taken to an empty room and only allowed to walk.

[EFerrari]

28. We can't let this man fall below the radar.

[PDJane]

9. I thought there were supposed to be protections for whistleblowers.

Obviously not.

I am firmly of the belief that the rule of law in the U.S. requires resuscitation......

[oneshooter]

11. He is subject to the UCMJ. n/t

[EFerrari]

16. Punishing someone before their trial violates the UCMJ.

Someone put up the section the other day.

[defendandprotect]

158. Well, if Bush could ignore it -- I guess Obama will, as well .... ???/

[stray cat]

17. Selling nuclear weapon designs to al-Qaeda is also whistle blowing in your book?

This is theft and release of classified info just the same. HE was probably a Patsy who didn't care what he released -he surely didn't read all of it to see what he was releasing

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Evidence of that one please

By the way the leaked cables I've read are the usual, run of the mill, crap State declassifies every so often.

[stray cat]

21. Do you think he had a clue what he was releasing -if you read the post you would get the point

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Yes, no nuclear secrets went on that network

hate to burst that bubble. These are the usual low level crap...

I mean the kind that told me the huge news that there is no coordination between the Mexican Navy and Army... you sure I needed state to learn that? I mean any Historian of Mexico knows this is an issue going to the 18th century.

These cables are the usual scuttle that all countries send back and forth. The real secret highly sensitive stuff goes by diplomatic pouch or human carrier.

Most people have NO FUCKING CLUE how this works, really.

So you do not have links to these supposed secrets, right?

[Statistical]

41. You are aware Manning had access to both SIPRNET and JWICS right.

While SIPRNET only has material classified up to SECRET, JWICS has much more secure information. Everything up to Top Secret with SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) scope routes on JWICS.

[JDPriestly]

76. Thank you, nadinbrzezinski. There is so much false information

about what is in the Wikileaks -- which is strange since much of it has been summarized or printed in the Guardian and is available on line.

[Statistical]

88. You are thanking him for a false claim.

There is no Top Secret material on the SIPRNET which is true however he neglects to mention JWICS is the computer network used to transfer Top Secret material. Manning had a JWICS terminal, a Top Secret clearance, and had an SCI.

Nads claim is no different than a defense attorney saying "My client didn't kill the victim with this knife" when the victim was killed by a gunshots. True but completely irrelevant.

[DirkGently]

108. Speaking of false claims, who was "killed," exactly, by Manning's alleged actions?

[Sirveri]

120. But you still need specific SCI to open some of those doors

It's not clear to me what SCI doors he could actually open. He might not have had access to any of our stateside nuclear secrets, though he might have had access to field reports on other countries nuclear secrets depending on what doors his SCI allowed him to go through. While I was in I only had a secret level clearance, though I knew a few people with TS/SCI who basically explained how it worked. So that said, since we don't know what doors he was cleared to walk through it's difficult for the public to say what he was capable of releasing.

[Canuckistanian]

34. They're not going to put nuclear weapon data on SIPRNet

That would be "Top Secret" or above classification. SIPRNet is only for "Secret" classification or below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIPRNet

And Manning was only using his access to SIPRNet for the cables and the Iraq video.

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. Not only that nuclear secrets

use diplomatic pouches... they are that secret.

There are days I want to do this

[Statistical]

42. Manning had access to JWICS also.

His clearance was Top Secret/SCI.

[Canuckistanian]

66. JWICS? I didn't know that

Do they often give a Pfc such access?

[Statistical]

68. Clearance has nothing to do with rank. Nothing.

If you need clearance and your background supports it then you get it. Manning was an intel analyst. Not very useful if he doesn't have access to intel (which is almost always classified). Someone could be a captain and have less clearance than Manning. It all depends on what their job entails.

I knew many junior enlisted w/ TS/SCI. I still know many but I am a civilian now (military contractor). Most people (regardless of rank) will never get a TS/SCI so it is relatively rare.

My understanding is the Helicopter attack video was top secret and thus wouldn't have been stored on SIPRNET.

[TheMadMonk]

150. Aren't both of those compartmentalised?

He would have had access only to whatever material was pertinent to his assignment.

And I find it highly unlikely that there is no way to know exactly what TS/SCI documents he has accessed and their potential for explosive revelation/embarrassment.

[Zywiec]

83. Plenty of Nuclear Weapons data is less than TS

Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information (CNWDI) is a U.S. Department of Defense category of TOP SECRET Restricted Data or SECRET Restricted Data that reveals the theory of operation or design of the components of a thermonuclear or fission bomb, warhead, demolition munition, or test device.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Nuclear_Weapon_De...

Although this wiki article doesn't mention it, I've seen CNWDI information classified at the Confidential level.

[JDPriestly]

75. I haven't heard any accusation that he sold nuclear weapon designs to

Al Qaeda. In fact, I have not heard that he sold any of the information or that it included nuclear weapon designs.

Surely there is no way a private could get access to nuclear weapon designs.

If a private was given access or could get access to nuclear weapon designs, then Manning has done us a favor by letting us know about it.

I am unaware that there is proof that Manning actually provided all the documents in the Wikileaks -- some of them yes, but all of them? I still have trouble believing that a private would be given access to all that information. Why?

[Forkboy]

126. Another RW meme in what seems like an endless stream.

[rhett o rick]

130. Time to use the alert function. nm

[rhett o rick]

129. So you rationalize that torturing him is ok because he is ACCUSED of releasing classified info?

Do you believe in the Constitution?

[defendandprotect]

144. US/CIA created Al Qaeda ...financed it up to 9/11 and probably beyond....

And do you recall not classified info but actual nuclear missiles

sent flying off around the states in plane -- anyone tell us yet

how that happened?

And the highest security clearances aren't for nuclear weapons, anyway ...

[TorchTheWitch]

57. he isn't a whistleblower

Not according to the law. Had he only taken and distributed that information that shows illegal activity or corruption then he probably would be although the statutes are a bit murkey on that especially considering government employees. Since the bulk of what he stole he didn't even look at himself, has no idea what it contains and so far much of it doesn't expose illegal activity or corruption then he doesn't get whistleblower protection because in taking anything that he doesn't even know what it contains shows that he wasn't just trying to expose illegal activity or corruption but had some other motive for taking it and distributing it.

[jberryhill]

79. That's a very good point

It would be interesting to hear his view on what "crime" he believes to have exposed by releasing cables in which US embassy officials opine that Arab governments don't like Ahmedinejad very much.

[jaxx]

10. ...The guards at the confinement facility are professional.

At no time have they tried to bully, harass, or embarrass PFC Manning. Given the nature of their job, however, they do not engage in conversation with PFC Manning.

...He is allowed to watch television during the day. The television stations are limited to the basic local stations. His access to the television ranges from 1 to 3 hours on weekdays to 3 to 6 hours on weekends.

...Each night, during his correspondence time, he is allowed to take a 15 to 20 minute shower.

On weekends and holidays, he is allowed to have approved visitors see him from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m.

http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/2010/12/typical...

He's in jail for stealing government documents and giving them to a professional leaker. What do people expect?

[some guy]

24. People expect a conviction before he is sentenced.

He has been convicted of nothing; he should get the same presumption of innocence that this country is supposed to provide for everyone.

[jaxx]

29. People are in jail everywhere awaiting trials.

Your complaint doesn't make any sense.

[jberryhill]

32. You do realize he is in the service, yes?

Par for the course are things like being "sentenced" to climbing mountains in the desert while being shot at.

[JDPriestly]

77. Thanks, some guy.

[sabrina 1]

25. And if you are a friend of Mannings, or you visit him, you will be

harassed by the U.S. government.

Government harassing and intimidating Bradley Manning supporters

That campaign of intimidation is now clearly spreading to supporters of Bradley Manning. Last Wednesday, November 3, David House, a 23-year-old researcher who works at MIT, was returning to the U.S. from a short vacation with his girlfriend in Mexico, and was subjected to similar and even worse treatment. House's crime: he did work in helping set up the Bradley Manning Support Network, an organization created to raise money for Manning's legal defense fund, and he has now visited Manning three times in Quantico, Virginia, where the accused WikiLeaks leaker is currently being detained (all those visits are fully monitored by government agents). Like Appelbaum, House has never been accused of any crime, never been advised that he's under investigation, and was never told by any federal agents that he's suspected of any wrongdoing at all.

As for the guards being 'professional', please, so were the guards at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. I don't think we can make that claim anymore since we do not prosecute torturers in this country, we can assume that they have nothing to fear, and may even in fact be given medals of freedom.

I really wish I did not have to see people defending this kind of thing on democratic boards. I never saw this kind of defense of it when Bush was president.

This soldier saw some very nasty things being done by his government when he was in Iraq. He tried to get his concerns addressed. He took an oath to defend and protect the Constitution. What should a soldier do when no one will listen to him? This is what Whistle-blowing is about. And although this administration appears to be making a mockery of the protection of whistle-blowers, we still have laws that do protect them.

They are torturing this soldier. They have no crime to charge Wikileaks with as they have been told now by many legal experts. They are attempting to get a 'confession' from Manning to implicate Assange in some kind of crime. Although I can't image what. Even if they met, journalists do meet with sources.

This treatment is what we would expect from the former Soviet Union. I don't know why we keep insisting that we are a democracy. It would be easier to accept the criminal behavior of our government if we just dropped the pretense. The Iraq War and the Afghanistan War are crimes of great magnitude. Manning is a hero, no matter what they do to him, or extract from him by torture. They are so scared of having their crimes exposed for the world to see by a news organization they have no control over.

[jaxx]

37. That kind of talk is out of control.

And the statement about the guards being professional was taken from the very article the OP used. Read it, read it all. Why anyone would want to escalate the prison time into torture is absurd.

[EFerrari]

43. No, it's not out of control, his friends have been harrassed.

http://dakiniland.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/bradley-mann... /

And solitary confinement is inhumane and leads to brain damage. Greenwald quotes two experts on this topic in this article.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/...

Why anyone would want to reject the facts of this case is absurd.

[jaxx]

46. Well, if Greenwald says it.........

It seems to me Greenwald needs to read the lawyers article and find out that he (Greenwald) is passing off inconsistencies. The facts aren't being told, they are being manipulated. Again, read the lawyers article.

[EFerrari]

53. Greenwald quotes two experts. There for you to read.

And I read the lawyer's article.

[jaxx]

55. Experts are a dime a dozen.

Accuracy is another thing.

[EFerrari]

58. No, jaxx. One of them is the commission that writes reports

on human rights and prisons for the UN.

[jaxx]

59. Is he saying this about all prisoners, no solitary?

[EFerrari]

63. Here is the report. Look at Section 2. It's not that long and you can skim it.

http://www.internationalcure.org/UPR_USA.htm

The issue is solitary confinement.

[jaxx]

69. He does have books, tv and weekly visits.

Do you think he'd be safe in general confinement?

[obxhead]

149. Lock yourself in your bathroom for a week.

Getting only 1 book or magazine a day. Make sure to put that book away between 8 PM and 5 AM. etc etc etc.

See how sane you are after just 3 days, much less just a week.

[jberryhill]

169. Serve aboard a submarine for six months

That's no bed of roses either. And it is something done in the military without being charged with an offense!

[Forkboy]

127. "Experts are a dime a dozen."

I agree. Imagine how cheap those of us who post on internet message boards must be, and how accurate we are.

[sabrina 1]

67. Thank you. I wasn't sure what 'talk' was out of control since everything I said

was not just my opinion, but backed up by Manning's attorney and others who have seen him. And thank you for the studies on the effects of isolation. I was going to post a few also, but you saved me the trouble

[Mimosa]

87. ^ Sabrina: "I never saw this kind of defense of it when Bush was president."

Heck no. No way, no how.

People here were more uniform in opposing wars, violence, imprisonment and torture back then.

It's fairly clear they're trying to break Manning. He's a kid. And, as my veteran friends all say, what kind of Army lets an untested 22 year old PFC have access to top secret or highly classified info anyway?

[BrightKnight]

98. Would it be reasonable for the government to take an interest in Julius Rosenberg's visitors?

He is accused of providing large quantities of classified data to a foreign national. There is reason to believe that he is threat to national security. A case could be made for restricting his visitors and anyone else he might interact with to people with security clearance.

[EFerrari]

27. Those soldiers in the Abu Graib photos were professionals, too.

Graner was a corrections officer.

[snagglepuss]

30. Presumption of innocence. Is that simple enough for you to understand?

[treestar]

31. But people can still be held pending trial

without bail, or not able to pay the bail assigned.

That's basic.

[jberryhill]

35. Presumption of innocence is a jury instruction

I guess nobody in your world is arrested and held pending trial.

[snagglepuss]

47. Name some people you know being held pending trial under those conditions?

[jberryhill]

60. I'm sorry but I only know one person who was ever arrested for a serious crime

And he was held in solitary pending bail.

However, this is not even a civilian arrested by police, and the rules, which one voluntarily signs on for, are different.

He's being held in solitary, gets correspondence, gets an hour of tv, and gets visitors. That does not sound exceptional to me. As far as other conditions go, neither I nor you would have access to his psych assessment, which may factor into those conditions.

Out of curiosity, if you were in charge of his detention, what conditions would you change?

[Hippo_Tron]

146. Seems a little ridiculous that he can't read, exercise, and sleep as he pleases in his cell

[jberryhill]

168. Can't do that on active duty either

The thing here is that he is active duty military.

Compare his circumstances to, say, someone not charged with anything and serving aboard a submarine for several months.

I guess my point is that military life itself is no can of peas, so one would probably expect that confinement under arrest is considerably more difficult.

[jaxx]

40. That is for the court.

[customerserviceguy]

45. I expected the treatment he's getting

Frankly, if they put him into a general population of military inmates, he might not survive. I'd guess that 90% of the military considers him a traitor.

[EFerrari]

51. I wonder about that.

There was a huge anti war movement in ranks in the 60s and 70s and I didn't even know about it until someone made a documentary about it.

[NutmegYankee]

86. More than 90%

Even my fellow liberal colleagues would like to see him tried and placed before a firing squad. The Military world highly values honor and integrity, and releasing classified information to the public (which is effectively the same as handing it to our enemies) violates both. This man swore an oath to protect this information, and his violation of that oath should seal his fate. The man is facing massive felony charges for releasing the information, penalties that he well understood when he applied for his clearance.

I'm absolutely cool with the end of DADT, would love to see women allowed in combat units and an end to our wars in Mideast, but no way in hell will I ever condone doing what this guy did.

[tekisui]

94. He is in jail for allegedly stealing government docs.

He has had no trial or conviction, yet. Suspects are presumed innocent and should not be treated as he is.

[verges]

104. And that is (I think) the fourth

different description of what is happening to him that i have read. I don't know what the truth is; and I doubt that anyone else here does either. What he has alledgedly done is terrible, and if found guilty, he should be punished to the extreme permitted by law. However, before his trial and sentencing (if {as I suspect} necessary), he should be treated humanely. Give the kid a couple books to read. Let him do push-ups in his cell if he wishes. Let him nap occassionally. Let him keep the mind and body healthy.

[rhett o rick]

131. That's a right wing lie. He is not in jail for stealing anything.

He is in jail ACCUSED and is innocent until proven guilty. AND EVEN IF FOUND GUILTY, THAT DOES NOT CONDONE TORTURE. What kind of lame Democrat are you????

[sabrina 1]

13. He IS being tortured. This is reprehensible.

Yesterday was his birthday, I read somewhere. He is a hero and they are cowards of the worst kind.

Do they really believe that any confession from a tortured man will ever be believed by anyone? This is the change we voted for? I feel sickened by what this country has become.

[BrightKnight]

116. Do you have ANY evidence that he is actually being tortured?

Most people in the military have no control over when they get up, eat, sleep, or anything else. An argument could be made for suicide watch. I am sure that they have him locked down as tight as a drum. I am equally sure that they are following established written procedures in every detail. This is a very high profile case and there is no way anyone is going to do anything to jeopardize the case in any way.

There are several very good reasons to keep him out of the general population.

[DeSwiss]

14. K&R

The MIC runs this country.

[stray cat]

15. Are you sure they were watching him every minute to make sure he did not do a single push up?

[jaxx]

18. A 5 minute check, he can do a lot in 5 minutes.

[stray cat]

19. 5 minute mile if he were in shape

And I think that's only for the suicide watch.

[coalition_unwilling]

22. Torture is as American as cherry pie (with apologies to H. Rap Brown) - n/t

[treestar]

33. this is being trumped up

he may be held as anyone would in the circumstances

why is this necessary?

[snagglepuss]

44. Yeah right. Name suspects who have been held for months in solitary,

with no bedding, exercise etc.

[Statistical]

48. Routinely suspects who are a danger to others or IN DANGER from others are held in isolation.

This happens everyday in every prison in the world. Putting Manning in general population likely would mean he would have an "accident" before trial. How much gnashing of teeth would happen then?

The no sheets, pillows, etc is suicide watch something else that happens routinely. What would you do if Manning wasn't on a suicide watch and hung himself with his own bedding? Would you blame the US government for allowing him to kill himself.

Manning made his bed and now gets to lie in it. He should get use to it he will be spending next 52 years there.

[snagglepuss]

52. Prison officals declared Manning is not suicidal.

snip

Manning has been examined by Quantico's mental health officials, who declared that he is not a suicide risk -- yet he continues to be held in solitary confinement which is consistent with a suicide watch.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/15/bradley-mannin...

[stevenleser]

54. Virtually anyone in the military accused of a capital crime. n/t

[snagglepuss]

61. My understanding is that he has not been accused of committing a capital

offense. There are pols who want him tried for treason but he hasn't been charged for treason.

[stevenleser]

62. Intentional release of tens and hundreds of thousands of documents classified as secret is

considered a very serious offense in the military.

Actually, almost every rule infraction is regarded as serious in the military.

All people entering the military get multiple briefings on how seriously rule and law infractions are dealt with. I still remember one of the films I saw on the subject from Basic Training 21 years ago.

The point is, all military personnel know how seriously rule and lawbreaking is treated. Manning did what he did in the face of that.

I would have been sympathetic if the documents he released were more specific regarding topics for whistleblowing. 250,000 documents mostly disclosing musings of diplomats makes him very unsympathetic to me.

[EFerrari]

70. Support of basic human rights shouldn't be contingent upon

how attractive an individual is. And since we have only seen about a thousand cables, we don't know what the whole group "mostly" disclose.

[stevenleser]

71. Are you sure you meant to respond to me? Your comment seems unrelated to my post. n/t

[EFerrari]

64. This practice of the United States has been condemned

pretty much by everyone, the UN, human rights organizations, etc.

[BzaDem]

65. As it should be. However, this is not unique to Manning. It happens routinely in every US jail.

That this happens in general is the problem -- not that it is specifically happening to him.

[rhett o rick]

132. Once again, siding with the Oligarchy. Why are you allowed in DU? nm

[myrna minx]

36. K&R n/t

[TorchTheWitch]

49. He's being treated as any other POI prisoner

This isn't special treatment just for him, it's standard. THAT is the problem. NO ONE should be treated in this way whether they've been found guilty or not yet been to trial or whether in a military prison or civilian one.

By only complaining of HIS treatment and not complaining of all other prisoners being treated this way in either military or civilian prisons it's obvious that the concern is not really about the treatment at all but the fact that HE personally is suffering it, and that alone destroys the claim that the treatment is torturous. After all, if you aren't complaining about anyone else's treatment but his than you have no argument that the treatment is torturous. If these concerns about his treatment are to be taken seriously by anyone than the focus MUST be on ALL prisoners suffering such treatment.

There's no question that such treatment even for a prisoner on a POI watch is wildly excessive. No pillow or sheets is understandable since such things can be used to kill himself or hurt someone else. But much of the restrictions are absurd and can only be considered intentionally abusive. Asking him EVERY 5 MINUTES if he's ok??? That would make anyone insane in a day including the poor guards who have to do the asking!

Sickening that our country does this to anyone.

[Odin2005]

50. I am so sickened by this fascist brutality.

[Kurovski]

56. Kick. (nt)

[Ellipsis]

72. Thanks for throwing this Blog up Attorney Coombs... if you read this.

It was quite helpful... in describing his situation.

I'm especially glad to hear his guards are treating him professionally.


I'm curious who up the chain would set his conditions.






Letters and postcards to:

Bradley Manning
c/o Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Ave #41
Oakland CA 94610
USA

Letters will be opened, "contraband" discarded and then mailed weekly to Bradley via someone on his approved correspondence list.

(From the http://www.bradleymanning.org website)

[EFerrari]

73. Suggestions for action from Bradley Manning Support Networks

http://www.bradleymanning.org/15364/holiday-cards-for-b...

[rhett o rick]

133. Thanks. nm

[JDPriestly]

74. Mind control. That is the aim.

Cause him to feel that he must follow orders and not even think for himself.

If you believe in prayer, please pray for this young man.

In my opinion, he made a grave mistake, but he is just a kid, barely more than a boy. Neither he nor anyone else should be subject to this treatment. Neither he nor any other person should be sent to fight these God-forsaken, evil, pointless wars either (in my opinion).

[MilesColtrane]

107. Everybody in the military has to follow orders.

[Senator]

80. K&+R

[Crystal Clarity]

82. What crime(s) has Bradley Manning officially been charged with?

Sorry if this is a dumb question... I know the backstory, but was unaware that he had even been imprisoned. Missed it somehow

So anyway, what exactly are the charges? If convicted, is he looking at a long sentence?

[lonestarnot]

85. Last I heard he hadn't been charged.

[Crystal Clarity]

93. Huh. I'm even more confused now

Unless they can be held without being charged in the military similar to Gitmo Bay? Ah well.

[Crabby Appleton]

99. He was charged on 5 July 2010 with UCMJ violations

of Article 92 & 134 and is under pre-trial confinement. He will probably be charged with other offenses, in any event he'll be spending the rest of his life in a military prison.


http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2010/07/manning070510.pdf

[Crystal Clarity]

100. Wow. Thanks for the info.

Based on this pdf file alone, things are not looking good for him.

[Crabby Appleton]

103. The logs of his chats with Adrian Lamo about wikileaks

are very damaging to Manning, probably would support more serious charges. Also keep in mind he'll be tried by a panel of Army officers, not a civilian jury.

[NutmegYankee]

101. Unauthorized disclosure of classified material.

And yes, he's looking at at a minimum of 20 years in a slam dunk case. He will likely die in prison.

[me b zola]

84. K&R

[fascisthunter]

89. wow... creepy

The lies and distortion to make this guy a bad guy deserving of torture is pretty sick.

[AngryAmish]

90. I read somewhere he did this because he did not like the DADT policy

Well, if so, didn't he kinda screw up his life for nothing?

[EFerrari]

111. That's wrong. He took evidence of human rights abuses to his superior

and was told to shut up.

I believe he was processing prisoners to hand over to the Iraqis and torture.

[sabrina 1]

119. That sounds like it came from some rightwing publication.

From what I've read, he saw things he knew were wrong when he was in Iraq and could not get anyone to listen to him. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands as most whistle-blowers do when they cannot get their concerns addressed any other way.

[xchrom]

91. recommend

[Karmadillo]

95. Somebody email Obama! Quick! He needs to know! He'll fight for Manning!

nt

[EFerrari]

136. Here's the tweet.

@BarackObama Please stop any action against #WikiLeaks and Julian #Assange. http://act.ly/2w7 RT to sign petition.

[sarcasmo]

97. Never any doubt in my mind that this Government would torture it's own citizens.

[kgnu_fan]

102. America is now an anti democratic "China"

[Freddie Stubbs]

105. If he had pulled this in China, he would already have been executed

[Catherina]

110. If this had happened in China, we'd be pushing for him to get a Nobel Peace Prize. n/t

[Kingofalldems]

114. +1

[defendandprotect]

142. +1000%

[Freddie Stubbs]

165. How many Chinese charged with espionage have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

[Kingofalldems]

115. Fail

[Freddie Stubbs]

166. How many Chinese charged with espionage have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

[BrightKnight]

109. If he did that in China nobody would know anything about it. - n/t

[defendandprotect]

161. Imagine there are quite a few things going on in this country we know nothing about .....

[chaska]

106. Please contact the Whitehouse. Link below.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

[IamK]

152. Ahhh I think the WH knows whats going on.... Obama is the commander in chief

good luck with that route...

[BrightKnight]

112. Allowing him to interact with anyone without security clearance

might be irresponsible. He has nothing to lose and he clearly has no interest in protecting any of the classified information that he had access to. Also, some inmates or even guards might really harm or kill him in the general population.

He is in the military and they control the horizontal and the vertical. When you get up, eat, go to bed is not your decision when you are in uniform. That is true for enlisted people being shot at in Afghanistan and for treasonous douche bags like him.

[EFerrari]

113. Brad's lawyer now on twitter: @armycmdefense n/t

[Ikonoklast]

117. Six months after he gets convicted for treasonous acts no one here will give two shits about

Bradley Manning, as they will forget all about him.

Outrage de jour.

[DeadEyeDyck]

125. If he is convicted of treason,

he may be sentenced to death. This is a court martial. They have very limited sentencing guidlines.

[EFerrari]

134. Yeah, just like we all forgot about Leonard Peltier.

Speak for yourself.

[defendandprotect]

143. I don't think so ... but it's not like there aren't another 1,000 things wrong ....

all going on at one time -- shock 'n awe -- for citizens --

[Marnie]

118. Since this harsh treatment has not posltive purpose

and he is already in captivity. It has not other purpose than pointlessly punitive. And certainly prolonged sensory deprivation is torture and it destroys the mind.

Since he is an American and clearly not an enemy combatant can he be tried if he is legally insane at the time of the trial.

[MilesColtrane]

121. "prolonged sensory deprivation"

What...his TV only get's reruns of Grey's Anatomy?

"He is allowed to watch TV during the day."

[EFerrari]

135. We're not really talking about reruns here but brain damage. n/t

[BrightKnight]

148. Send him fresh flowers and porn to decorate his dreary prison cell. - n/t

[EFerrari]

151. Another Amerian hero weighs in. n/t

[BrightKnight]

153. It is possible to reject both jingoistic bull shit AND treason. n/t

[EFerrari]

154. The only thing Manning betrayed is the corruption of your government.

There is no evidence a single person has been hurt or that the security of this nation has been put at risk in any way, per Gates and Biden.

Maybe treason doesn't mean what you think it means.

[Pavulon]

123. He will flip and testify against assange to spare himself execution

the purpose of securing him is to prevent him from disclosing more data. Robert hannsen has been on similar lock down his entire time in the system. Manning will die with this restriction in place.

[madmax]

124. K&R

[sirthomas66]

128. This the same kind of stuff Thomas Cromwell ordered done to

innocent people until they confessed what they had not done simply to avoid more torture. If this is actually happening, this takes everything to a new level and the populace had better prepare itself with shovels and pitchforks, like Keith said. I'm dead serious.

[irislake]

137. Jesus Christ, what a country!

I feel nervous just living next door to you. As if distance helps. None of us are safe anywhere on the planet.

[abelenkpe]

145. I wish I lived next door

Need any animators?

[defendandprotect]

138. Wondered if some day I was going have to say, "I'm ashamed to be an American"....

the time has come .... long past time!

[Homer Wells]

139. KICK and Rec

[Joey Liberal]

140. FTA nt

[Vattel]

141. isolation of this sort is punitive and so illegal.

The protocol being applied here is stupid. It is obvious that it is not intended just for protection.

[Pavulon]

159. someone painted the floor with the contents

of dahmers head, cant risk that with a witness before trial. plus he is a security risk and can be held incommunicado forever, like hannsen.

[Vattel]

164. I am not claiming that he shouldn't be in protective custody.

Protective custody can be humane. His conditions are not humane.

[Name removed]

147. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EFerrari]

156. And, somehow, you'd be wrong.

[defendandprotect]

163. You'd be wrong ....

[lovuian]

155. They are effectively destroying his testimony

by driving him insane

[Pavulon]

157. he will be just fine, he is getting meds and not in genpop where

someone would crack his head like a melon, dahmer style. manning should get used to solitary, his life will be spent there.

[LAGC]

162. Bullshit, leaking is a solid crime!

He'd have no problem in general population. Unlike sex offenders.

[defendandprotect]

160. If a smidge of justice is left anywhere, fact Manning was held in Isolation should disqualify...

any new testimony -- any changed testimony --

based on the fact he's been TORTURED!!

[msanthrope]

167. Did Wikileaks ever pony up the 100k they promised Manning's defense? Why aren't DUers asking

about that?

As for Manning, he should be kept in protective custody.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

170. Since Wikileaks has funding issues thanks to BoA, Paypal, Mastercard, etc refusing to process paymen

Its pretty damned difficult for Wikleaks to receive funds.
I wonder if they also can't transmit funds.