‘You Failed to Break the Spirit of Bradley Manning’: An Open Letter to President Obama

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/22

Dear President Obama:

As commander in chief, you’ve been responsible for the treatment of the most high-profile whistleblower in the history of the U.S. armed forces. Under your command, the United States military tried -- and failed -- to crush the spirit of Bradley Manning.

Your failure became evident after the sentencing on Wednesday, when a statement from Bradley Manning was read aloud to the world. The statement began: “The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We've been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on any traditional battlefield, and due to this fact we've had to alter our methods of combating the risks posed to us and our way of life. I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my country.”

From the outset, your administration set out to destroy Bradley Manning. As his biographer Chase Madar wrote in The Nation, “Upon his arrest in May 2010, he was locked up in punitive isolation for two months in Iraq and Kuwait, then nine more months at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia. Prohibited from lying down during the day or exercising, he was forced to respond every five of his waking minutes to a guard’s question: ‘Are you OK?’ In his final weeks of isolation, Manning was deprived of all clothing beyond a tear-proof smock and forced to stand at attention every night in the nude.”

More than nine months after Manning’s arrest, at a news conference you defended this treatment -- which the State Department’s chief spokesman, P.J. Crowley, had just lambasted as “ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid.” (Crowley swiftly lost his job.) Later, the UN special rapporteur on torture issued a report on the treatment of Manning: “at a minimum cruel, inhuman and degrading.”

[snappyturtle]

1. The letter is a testament to Manning. Those who calm him

weak (yes, I encountered one this a.m. here on DU) need to
read the letter. Manning has superior strength evidenced by
the fact he endured horrible circumstances during his incarcera-
tion and emerged as a beacon of patriotism.

[The Link]

2. Obama could look to Manning for a lesson in courage.

[struggle4progress]

3. The letter might be more convincing without its various glaring factual errors

[MisterP]

4. it's not Manning he has to break, to sit down & shut up: it's the Dems

[RetroLounge]

5. K&R

RL

[hootinholler]

6. Please read the link

There is so much more.

[sabrina 1]

7. His statement was excellent, sincere, the truth. So refreshing to see someone with pure motives for

a change.

I would would not want to be on the wrong side of history on this. Manning is now probably among the most popular and respected people in the world.

There was a large demonstration at the WH on the day of the verdict. Great to see people coming out all over the world to support him.

If only we had leaders with that kind of courage. What a different country this would be.