Glenn Greenwald writes:
To follow-up on yesterday’s observations about the prolonged forced nudity to which Bradley Manning has been subjected the last two days: brig officials now confirm to The New York Times that Manning will be forced to be nude every night from now on for the indefinite future — not only when he sleeps, but also when he stands outside his cell for morning inspection along with the other brig detainees. They claim that it is being done “as a ‘precautionary measure’ to prevent him from injuring himself.”
Has anyone before successfully committed suicide using a pair of briefs — especially when under constant video and in-person monitoring? There’s no underwear that can be issued that is useless for killing oneself? And if this is truly such a threat, why isn’t he on “suicide watch” (the NYT article confirms he’s not)? And why is this restriction confined to the night; can’t he also off himself using his briefs during the day?
Let’s review Manning’s detention over the last nine straight months: 23-hour/day solitary confinement; barred even from exercising in his cell; one hour total outside his cell per day where he’s allowed to walk around in circles in a room alone while shackled, and is returned to his cell the minute he stops walking; forced to respond to guards’ inquiries literally every 5 minutes, all day, everyday; and awakened at night each time he is curled up in the corner of his bed or otherwise outside the guards’ full view. Is there anyone who doubts that these measures — and especially this prolonged forced nudity — are punitive and designed to further erode his mental health, physical health and will?
The US Torture.
The US tortures its own citizens.
Desperation from the US government to find an inexistent link between Manning and Assange.
The US tortureed people in order to claim they found the masterming of the alledged “terrorist” atack of 9/11. How did this alledged mastermind of 9/11 stood down NORAD and demolished WTC7 is beyond belief…
We are still waiting for the release of the thousands of security cameras surrounding the Pentagon actually showing a 757 hiting the building.
Pitty the traitor and war criminal Dick Chenney is whithering away in decay…
Only in America.
If this was being done to anyone in Venezuela or Cuba or Gaza or (enter the current bogeyman) there would be hypocritical outrage in Congress and your lying politicians would pass resolutions condemning it.
And you call yourselves ‘A City on a Hill’, and ‘The Guardian of the Free World!’
Your time will come.
Alex Bell
How did the ‘Phone the White House’ to speak up for Brad movement turn out? I shamefully admit I got tied up and missed it. I suppose the announced phone number was quickly switched to the city dog pound. At least the creatures that heard the calls were honorable ones.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/04/hearts_minds_and_gunships_what_are_we_really_doing_in_afghanistan
The Professor Walt ‘s blog above about the war in Afghanistan starts with a sentence ”It goes without saying that the accidental killing of nine Afghan boys by an American helicopter gunship was yet another public relations setback for the U.S. war effort.” (I consider that writing off killing Afghan children – accidental or not – by the US gunship as a “public relations setback” is racist and morally untenable.)
This latest civilian killing is very similar to the video Manning poted on Youtube: killing of civilians(mostly adults) by the US helicoper gunship.
The repeated occurrences of this type of atrocities by the US military imply that they are condoned actions if not an official strategy especially since there have been no adverse consequences for those who have commited these atrocities. So is Manning “punished” because he caused a “public relations setback for the US war effort”? What an exceptional nation indeed!
Another big hi five to the P.O.T.U.S., he’s going out of his way to show the right & the Neo’s that he’s tough. What a disgrace for the people of the U.S.A., we might as well all stand at attention and salute Sieg Heil.
The most interesting thing about this, I believe, is that it’s being set up from the start so only low-ranking individuals are exposed to potential reprimand. The person who initiated the nakedness regime is not even a full-fledged officer.
Almost equally interesting is the specific character of the harassments. They seem carefully graduated so they can be trivialized (‘forced to sleep naked’ is what the AP reports) yet at the same time chosen from the playbook of effective psychological assault. The clear implication is that there’s a whole professional hierarchy behind the program.
Who would have thought that the security apparatus had learned so much from the bad press over Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo?