State Dept. Spokesman: Treatment Of Bradley Manning Is ‘Ridiculous And Counterproductive And Stupid’

[kpete]

Source: Think Progress

State Dept. Spokesman: Treatment Of Bradley Manning Is ‘Ridiculous And Counterproductive And Stupid’

....................

Last night, as reported by former BBC America journalist Philippa Thomas, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley commented on Manning’s treatment during an event organized by the Center for Future Civic Media. Crowley blasted the treatment of Manning by his “colleagues at the Department of Defense”:

***** Around twenty of us were sitting around the table listening to his views on social media, the impact of the Twittersphere, the Arab uprisings, and so on, in a vast space-age conference room overlooking the Charles River and the Boston skyline. And then, inevitably, one 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”. <..>

***** 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.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/11/state-department-bradley-manning/

---

other links:
http://chuckdude.com/?tag=p-j-crowley
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/11/955246/-Top-State-Department-Spokesperson-Denounces-Treatment-of-Bradley-Manning
UPDATE II - Fri.:
A second person who was at the meeting with Crowley -- Chuck Toporek -- confirms Thomas' account and writes:
During the Q&A, Mr. Crowley stated that he felt Bradley Manning, who has been in military custody since May 2010 for his connection to WikiLeaks, is being "mistreated" while in custody.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/03/10/amnesty/index.html

[Kurovski]

1. Yes, if only they cared about how they look to the world.

But they don't. K&R

[avaistheone1]

2. Beyond that it is is illegal and destructive.

k&r

[PassingFair]

7. You left out immoral and inhumane.

Are there protests at Quantico over this?

[avaistheone1]

8. That too.

It bankrupts all of us a people.

[blackspade]

3. How soon will this guy back pedal

Or quit to be with his family?

[Solly Mack]

4. K&R

[Babel_17]

5. Excellent

It's good that this topic will now be more likely to be discussed at the most prominent levels.

The more that people dig into the story the more likely they are to draw an informed opinion.

[yodermon]

6. resignation in 3, 2.. n/t

[dipsydoodle]

9. When questioned on the subject at todays news conference.

President Obama said he had been assured by the Pentagon that basic standards were being met.

That's alright then. :rofl: Didn't realise he did stand up comedy.

[NCarolinawoman]

10. I heard that.

He basically said he has looked into Manning's treatment, and all looks well. :eyes:

(Uh oh. Watch out Hillary. Watch out P.J.)

[dipsydoodle]

11. Did you notice

the bit he added which referred to him being treated with regard to "his own safety"

[NCarolinawoman]

12. I actually kind of missed that part.

I didn't understand how he could possibly think the treatment was alright. Then I came here and saw this thread.

[dipsydoodle]

14. I was watching Bloomberg on satellite tv

and I rewound and replayed it a few times it to make sure that what I said was perfectly correct.

:hi:

[Turborama]

15. It's been posted in the videos froum

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x561857

[dipsydoodle]

16. Such tragic remarks

recorded for posterity.

:hi:

[Kurovski]

13. Oh, that "Nanny State" is just adorable.

Precious, really.

[Downwinder]

17. Following Arpaio's example.

[MikeW]

18. PJ - heres what you need to do the rest of today

1 - Go immediately back to your office and get coffee / snack

2 - Close door, tell office sec. no calls and cancel all meetings

3 - Get your resume out, brush it off and update it. Your going to need it to find a new job

[CHIMO]

19. Bradley Manning being mistreated, says Hillary Clinton spokesman

Source: guardian.co.uk

Hillary Clinton's spokesman has launched a public attack on the Pentagon for the way it is treating military prisoner Bradley Manning, the US soldier suspected of handing the US embassy cables to WikiLeaks.

PJ Crowley, the assistant secretary of state for public affairs at the US state department, said Manning was being "mistreated" in the military brig at Quantico, Virginia. "What is being done to Bradley Manning is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid on the part of the department of defence," he said.

Crowley's comments signal a crack within the Obama administration over the handling of the WikiLeaks saga in which hundreds of thousands of confidential documents were handed to the website.

As news of the remarks rippled through Washington, President Obama was forced to address the subject of Manning's treatment for the first time.



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/11/bradley-manning-clinton-crowley-comments

[bigworld]

20. As a former big supporter of Obama,

I have to stay that Hillary has been impressing me more as SoS every day. I hated the way her campaign was run, hated the people involved in it.

Still, I'm kind of regretting my support for Obama at this point.

[aquart]

22. Not saying a word.

[countmyvote4real]

25. I was just thinking the same thing about Hilary Clinton. n/t

[nashville_brook]

28. i stayed out of the whole primary debate b/c it got so ugly

Hillary's campaign kept me aggravated, making me like Obama more.

[tpsbmam]

31. +1

[ejbr]

33. Not that I can argue with your points on the merits...

I just wonder whether if the roles were reversed, if they each would be doing what the other is doing and saying as POTUS and SoS. Regardless, if she would stay true to form, then yes, she would seem to be a better choice.

[Beacool]

34. Well, I disliked the people involved in the Obama campaign.

One more arrogant than the other, not that I was a fan of Mark Penn. Obama was just better at marketing himself. I still think that Hillary was ready to be president and nothing in Obama's wafer thin resume made me think that he was up to the job. Well, it's water under the bridge now.......

:eyes:

[Auntie Bush]

35. +100

[Demeter]

37. I Expect We Are Seeing Hillary's Revenge

I still wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her, assuming I could even get within throwing distance....

[defendandprotect]

21. Add, "criminal" to that list -- glad to see at least one defender of Manning vs torture ---!!

[JJW]

23. Hillary would win in 2012

Let's hope O fires her and then she runs as a real Democrat.

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. And let's just forget that she was, for years, the DLC poster child.

C'mon, aren't there any REAL Democrats out there?

[madrchsod]

24. well i have to say hillary is doing a good job so far....

i bet it`s hard to defend the moral authority of our country. it`s hard to admonish another country that does the same thing.

[USBlues]

26. "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid"??

I think inhumane and immoral and degrading are a little closer to the truth here pal.

[nashville_brook]

27. holy shit...not so much with the lockstep. hell yeah!

[DeSwiss]

29. "Ridiculous? Counterproductive? Stupid???

Why, the Commander-in-Chief of the whole military says everything's just fine over there at Guantanamo Norte Quantico. And that the Pentagon has assured him that Private Manning is being well-cared for and that he actually likes it when they ask him to stand around and/or sleep in the nude. This PJ Crowley really, really doesn't sound like a team player, eh?!?! Maybe Hillary should speak to this PJ-person or something. I mean this could make them all look like pikers and like inconsistent boobs. Not to mention fractious and totally unsophisticated.

- Because making tough decisions is harrrrd! And people might not like Obama if he makes a decision that's technically legal and upholds the Constitution and everything, but that they'll just turn it around and say that he's a wussie and everything -- because the man has "rights" and stuff........

K&R

[juajen]

32. I'm so glad she doesn't support torturing this man, whose mother

and father must be cringing and wringing their hands in grief and frustration daily. Even when we incarcerate a serial killer, we do not treat him/her as non-entities and deserving of any kind of contemptuous revenge we can conjure up. I personally believe in sunshine illuminating our policies and politics, though I know a lot disagree with me. Truth is difficult, made even more so when we confuse patriotism with honor.

[Name removed]

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