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State Dept. Spokesman Crowley Slams Pentagon on Treatment of Bradley Manning
The harsh conditions in which Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks leaker, are being held have helped make him a cause celebre on parts of the left, but the complaints have generated little official government sympathy -- until now.
US State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley blasted the Pentagon for it's treatment of Bradley Manning. The BBC reporter Philippa Thomas, now a Nieman Journalism Fellow at Harvard University, reports on her personal blog on a conversation with State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley that doesn't seem to have been meant for public consumption, exactly, but which reflects deep divisions on Manning's treatment:
[O]ne young man said he wanted to address “the elephant in the room”. What did Crowley think, he asked, about Wikileaks? About the United States, in his words, “torturing a prisoner in a military brig”? Crowley didn’t stop to think. What’s being done to Bradley Manning by my colleagues at the Department of Defense “is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” He paused. “None the less Bradley Manning is in the right place”. And he went on lengthening his answer, explaining why in Washington’s view, “there is sometimes a need for secrets… for diplomatic progress to be made”.
But still, he’d said it. And the fact he felt strongly enough to say it seems to me an extraordinary insight into the tensions within the administration over Wikileaks.
A few minutes later, I had a chance to ask a question. “Are you on the record?” I would not be writing this if he’d said no. There was an uncomfortable pause. “Sure.” So there we are.
Neither Crowley nor Defense Department spokesman Goeff Morrell responded immediately to an inquiry about the comment.
- Posted in
60 Comments so far
Show All"What’s being done to Bradley Manning by my colleagues at the Department of Defense “is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.”
No mention of immoral.
Not to mention the comment that Bradley Manning is where he belongs, which I just simply don't agree with.
I don't agree either, but at least if he weren't being treated like an "enemy combatant", he would be able to get a constitutionally appropriate fair trial. Our personal opinions aside, he at least is due a consensus judgement.
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..and no mention of illegal, either.
Pitiful CYA kabuki, is all. To hell with PJ Crowley; to hell with the rest of the torturers and torture enablers in our government!
Of course the US Military is treating Manning, who by the way is still a US citizen with constitutional rights, brutally...Manning's whistleblowing exposed the war crimes, corruption, and truly undemocratic, liberty threatening nature of the US Military...this unfortunately is the nature of standing armies as they become overly powerful and unaccountable.
Keep the pressure ON!!! Email everybody, call everybody, the buck's gotta stop somewhere! Hold your heads up, we are Americans!!! Let's keep taking these small, consistent UNIFIED steps together to bring our country back to basic human decency and the rule of law. Naysayers may respond that we were never decent, we were never lawful as a nation. I won't debate endlessly yes or no- LET'S BEGIN NOW!!
Bradley Manning IS a hero ! The mass murders, from obomber on down will receive what their crimes bring them.
Yes, I would say "horrific" rather than "ridiculous" given that there is a real, living, breathing human involved, and what they are doing to him.
Just goes to show - in addition to these tensions within those circles that the writer mentions - how on the defensive *decency* as a force is. Even when he is being forthright, he is undercutting his own position - and for what purpose? He got canned for saying it, regardless - he might as well have said it more strongly, directly, and clearer.
What, a glimmer of conscience? Crowley will pay the price for not suppressing that brain wave; the knock in the dark, the shot from nowhere, the plane maintenance deferred,etc.
Will Hillary deal with this tiny-teeny crack in the dike? Stay tuned! Tony
don't tempt me with such innuendos.
Now that's comic relief!
Yesterday I contacted every member of my congressional delegation IMPLORING them to rectify this egregious situation. I encourage all of you to do the same.
The question is not whether he may be subjected to pre-trial incarceration. The question is, if they can do this kind of cruel, abusive, humiliating dehumanizing things to Manning, what makes you think they can't do them to YOU!?!?!?
It is in all our own best interests to speak up. While there's still time.........
Bi-Polar Bear --
Started with Muslims and now they are extending it naturally to anyone that catches in their craw. I don't mean torturing people started with Muslims-- but rather that this particular form of psychological destruction involving isolation and nudity seems to be a recent wrinkle in their management of state enemies.
Innovation even in torture-- that's what makes America great.
This is what they have in mind for Assange if they can only get their claws into him through the Swedish extradition conspiracy.
I feel awful for this courageous young man. As far as I am concerned, he is an American equivalent of individuals such as Mandela, Sakharov & Vanunu.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/apr/21/israel3
was it matt drudge that gave us that juicy tid bit regarding one donn the maaan rummy rumsfield ordering large quantities of viagra which he always carried on his trips to our literal black holes. My... how invigorating
C'mon people, guilty until proven innocent is a time-honored tradition in America. I guess we should find comfort in that 'necktie parties' have lost favor in the US as societal entertainment.
"Crowley SLAMS Pentagon"
Rubbish.
To assume P.J. Crowley said these words because he is concerned about the treatment of Bradley Manning is foolish.
His comments must be seen as an assessment of the P.R.
For all we know (and based upon Crowley's history of smug obfuscating), Crowley is just as likely to believe that Manning should have been executed. That way, the corporate media propaganda machine could have been celebrating our "security" instead of having to deal with the inconvenience of the truth.
That "truth" being that this sadistic government believes in torture more than justice.
Birdbrain hits the nail on the head.
This is just more Kabuki theatre.........
Psyops, pure and simple.
HEADLINES
Elections ahead. Democrats and Republicans begin polishing their performances.
Why isn't Secretary of War for Wall Street Gates in prison?
Because when criminals rule, only the innocent are imprisoned.
Wow. I know I've heard that before, but reading it just now; it sent a shiver down my spine.
That sounds great, but is not necessarily true. The truth is much more complex.
That sounds great, but is not necessarily true. The truth is much more complex.
Geez, why limit prison sentences to just Gates? The list of war criminals in and out of the AmeriKKKan government would exceed the 1000-word limit that commondreams allows in a single post.
Hillary will soon dispatch a couple of thugs to drag Crowley off to the gulag for a little re-education. Remember, Winston, 2 + 2 = 5.
I appreciate PJ Crowley's comments taking issue with the mistreatment of Bradley Manning.
sure the slaves should thank the massers for such kind lipservice that contradics their actions.
Our government is an embarrassment, and I don't mean Obama. How can he be expected to clean up the mess made by imperialists practically since our inception. As the internet increases transparency, our government becomes more embarrassing. How can we condemn middle east dictators when we've supported them so long, talking about shooting their own people when in Afghanistan and Iraq, we do the shooting. Hopefully the world is in a clean-up phase; wouldn't that be nice? Was proud of Obama during this morning's press conference. One thing for sure, we have an intelligent president, so unlike the last one that did so much to increase the mess we are in. We don't believe in torture? Ha! Refer him (Gaddafi) to the International Criminal Court, and we don't belong? Ha! Will never forget sitting in a little hotel in Honduras, watching our tanks burn alive the men, women and children at Waco, TX, and telling those in the room, "That's not my country."
The great question is, how complicit is Obama in this issue? Note Crowley saying "my friends in the Pentagon". Does he really have any say whatsoever in what is going on with Manning? We all assume he does but does anyone really understand the complex web woven around the Pentagon? They have taken so much power over the last 50-60 years and I'm not sure we can just blame Obama for this. It's easy to do so and god knows I've done it! But the more I read about the intricacies, the more I'm not so sure. I'm starting a book called Bomb Power about this very issue as soon as I go pick it up at the library. I recommend we all read it. It's meant to be very informative.
If Obama really has no say in the matter, then it's his duty to tell us so.
He is the Commander in Chief. Obviously the buck stops there, theoretically.
@ontheres The ATF did not burn those people. Their leaders killed them.
Bullshit, the ATF/FBI are 100% responsible for the Waco Massacre.
http://www.workers.org/ww/1999/waco0909.php
@ontheres The ATF did not burn those people. Their leaders killed them.
@ontheres The ATF did not kill those people; their leaders killed them.
Since Obama is supposed to be the Commander-in-Chief, then the logical assumption has to be that he can stop this anytime he wants. He should also be demanding that Manning be granted his right to a fair and speedy trial.
Obama can and should be doing all these things. But, as expected, he is not. Obama is supposed to be the agent of hope and change. But there appears to be little hope that Obama will intercede by changing the treatment that is being done to young Manning and having the United States government bring Manning to court as soon as possible so that they can prove their bogus charges against him. And if Manning is ever able to finally have his day in court, it is probably highly unlikelyl if the major media will be allowed to sit in on those proceedings. To recall, no media were allowed in court when Lt. Ehren Watada was tried for refusing to deploy with his unit to Iraq. It would be surprising if any journalists and reporters would be allowed inside a military courtroom if and when Manning is ever tried for his alleged crimes.
Give me a Freakin break gang OilyBomber has PROACTIVELY done everything in his power Nationally and Internationally to block EVERY attempt to prosecute ANY of the USA war criminals that preceded his reign.
As Chris Hedges and myself have justly stated OilyBomber has codified all of Bush's transgressions.
Gee whiz! Obama is NOT the Commander in Chief - that is, not of the common citizen. The president, as an ELECTED civilian official is CIC of the military. This title is the same as that which Julius Cæsar choose when he took the final step in dismantling the Roman Republic and made it an empire with his own self as Imperator
Using your rationale, we could say the same about any president or elected official. Sorry, it's lame logic.
Obama not only took up where Bush left off, he is furthering the agenda. (poor puppy)
There is always the possibility that this guy knows he's about to lose his job, and comes up with a stunt that will win him some hearts and possibly land him a job.
Will any of our less than intrepid reporters ask Obama or his Chief of Staff why someone like Charles Manson is receiving far better treatment in the prison that he is kept in than Bradley Manning is in Quantico, Virginia?
I agree with those who see Crowley's transient and highly qualified moment of candor as an inconsequential variety of limited modified micro-hangout.
But Obama's fluttering two-step around the issue, while entirely predictable and characteristic, is reprehensible.
The crocodile tears running down his face over Amerika's Shamefully Bullied Youth were hardly dry before he smoothly assured the public that he'd looked into Manning's situation, and based on privileged information could affirm that contrary to apprearances, there was nothing amiss in the terms and conditions of Manning's captivity.
What a creep!
Sign the petition (your name, if you choose, will be published on the site) and/or donate to Bradley's defense at http://www.bradleymanning.org/
I refuse to believe donating to his defense is a waste of time.
"And he went on lengthening his answer, explaining why in Washington’s view, “there is sometimes a need for secrets… for diplomatic progress to be made”."
Secrets are required for maintaining a false reality by leaders directly responsible for murder and mayhem.
Sorry but this is sick.
One man Manning is egregiously treated and we have this fuss. How decent, how democratic of you all if I may say so !?
What the hell about Islamic people by the millions in the past, right now and fully intended to continue in blatant patriotic excess into the future??
For Christ's sake what, you bloody, nasty and perverted hypocrites??
The USA is simply insane! Be sane and put the bastards responsible for this and Manning's treatment into Abu Ghraib! Today!! You will find they are the ones responsible for such past as the war in Vietnam and the rest of the sorry lot.
Forgive the excess. Better systematically pillory them and their supporters. You know who they are. Place pictures in every classroom in the nation under the caption Remember These! They Are What Not to Be. That includes the current President of the USA, his bunch and all their predecessors. These people have been devious heretics bent on wailing and gnashing their teeth against truth and validity. Perverse as it has been historically, never has Western leadership been so low class! The rest were at least honest pirates and perverts, honestly mad as it were, but now everything said in English on this planet is beginning to have the foul sugar coating of the language of the USA. This USA perverts justice, decency, peace, democracy, defence, love, trust, even war and games and consequently and most seriously the English Language; the word we use to speak to our loved ones!
You have a tranche of foul people in the USA bearing a determined tradition that must be rejected. They are not just mistaken. They have thrown themselves beyond all reason, the essential core of humanity, willingly being possessed by the mistake to become the living body of that foul mistake and if you live with them and fail to control them they will befoul you.
indeed, the rotting stench all around us is more than unbearable.
"They are not just mistaken." True.
They are not "timid," "cautious," "spineless," "confused," "without a clue," or "compromising." They know exactly what their job is and the only difficult part is getting the performance just right.
Obama's campaign PR team did a smashing job. I can't watch the video, "Yes We Can," - with musicians, Black Eyed Peas, so solemn and proud - without feeling a little tingle up my spine. Man, how do they do it?
What advertising agency did Obama use? can't remember the name of it, but it won the advertisement industry's top award. The cost of Obama's campaign PR was greater than any other in history. He's planning on spending more in 2012.
Get ready for some mind warping! Defend yourselves. The Rs, as always, will take the roles of terrible monsters who want to eat us for breakfast. Supporting the ones who promise to only eat the poor and the sick will look like a decent "compromise," eh? The lesser evil.
So your premise is what? That everyone who has a "fuss" about the treatment of Manning, is thus not concerned about the treatment of Muslims, bloody resource wars, and torture?
By all means, get your citizenship in the US, and come show us just how easy it is to throw off the bloody fascists.
In the meantime, take your ejaculation of misdirected hate, and shove it.