Obama on Bradley Manning Torture.

[blizz]

Obama "I have actually asked the pentagon if the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and meet our basic standards, they assure me they are."



What are you going to?

Fucking nothing

[The Blue Flower]

1. He's the Commander in Chief

He should not be asking if they're up to standard, he should be ordering them to do the right thing.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. and the right thing would be making sure that he's treated according to standards

He has looked into it and determined that he is and would order the Pentagon otherwise if he wasn't being treated appropriately, right? :shrug: Do people around here have information that the President of the United States doesn't (presumably) have?

[Exilednight]

11. Ummmmm,

"Do people around here have information that the President of the United States doesn't (presumably) have?"

Your argument is the same one conservatives used when defending two illegal wars, torturing of prisoners from said wars, and just about every other dumbass decision that was made by Bush.

With that said, I'm not convinced that the President of the United States has more information than the general public. If he does, then there would be no harm in sharing it. I feel reasonably assured that there is no damage that can be done to the country as a whole if he were to come out and tell us what the average day in the life Bradley Manning is like.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

13. From what I've gathered, Bush did have lots of information about Iraq, torture, etc.

He just chose to ignore it and/or willfully misrepresent it to the public for his political ends.

In regards to Obama/Manning, what do we know that we know for a fact that Obama doesn't know and isn't there is a difference between not knowing something and not being able to talk about it much at a press conference?

[Exilednight]

15. Someone else put it best in this thread when they said

that asking the Pentagon if the military is mishandling PFC Manning is like asking Wall Street if they are properly regulated.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

21. O.k.

Well, you've convinced me. Obama's guilty as sin. The Pentagon is obviously lying to President Obama and President Obama is either gullible and/or complicit in Manning's (mis-)treatment. When do the impeachment proceedings start? :shrug:

[Exilednight]

25. I doubt you would be so smug if it were you they were holding. n/t

[Name removed]

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[polichick]

10. Yet another power he's not willing to use - sad stuff. nt

[lamp_shade]

3. It thought it was a good answer.

[dionysus]

4. bs flamebait

[blizz]

5. Those are his words sir

[bigwillq]

18. Hello.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Name removed]

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[Ter]

6. But, but, but, Obama opposes DADT and DOMA, so he's on our side!

He's doing a great job!

:sarcasm:

[vaberella]

28. Isn't Bradley Manning a criminal? Didn't he admit to giving up secret information?

If that is true---then yeah, he is on our side because Manning committed a crime against the United States government.

[earcandle]

39. there is that rule we are so proud of: innocent before proven guilty... remember that one?

[Cherchez la Femme]

42. Not if The Precious is besmirched

then anything is game.

[MissDeeds]

7. Oh, he asked the Pentagon

That's like asking Wall Street if their policies and practices are fair and ethical.

[avaistheone1]

9. Well that's hard work. Just ask...

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[MissDeeds]

16. +1

[DeSwiss]

17. K&R (again)

- People need to......




Because torture is torture no matter who does it......

[Imajika]

20. Oh boo hoo, Obama isn't going to waste time on Manning..

Bradley Manning is a criminal and is pretty much getting the kind of treatment reserved for near traitorous behavior.

Long after the keyboard commando's have moved on to something new and exciting, Bradley Manning will still be rotting in a prison cell for most of the rest of his life.

If Manning had been arrested for massive embezzlement or something along those lines, and was being held, charged and investigated related to that matter no one here or pretty much anywhere else would give a crap how his detention was going. I feel pretty certain the only reason most (not all) people here care about the manner in which Manning is being held is because they sympathize with his actions. Well guess what. Obama doesn't. At all. And neither does the American public.

Don't count on the President to waste many (none) moments of his day worrying about a how Bradley Manning's life behind bars is treating him.

[Hippo_Tron]

22. Out of curiosity do you think Dick Cheney, Dick Armitage, and Scooter libby should rot in a cell too

They were involved in leaking classified information and then covering it up.

[Imajika]

24. Yup, sure do.

Put em on trial and if convicted lock em' away for however many years the charges warrant.

Your certainly not going to find any sympathy from me for the likes of Dick Cheney.

[karynnj]

30. I don't even need to use search here on DU - there were likely

more than 100 threads demanding that for one or the other of those men. (and Bush himself)

[markpkessinger]

26. He's not a criminal under the law until he is convicted of a crime...

...and THAT's the issue here.

[Imajika]

27. Well then neither is Jared Loughner...

Do you suppose Obama or very many people here are going to worry too much about his discomfort in jail awaiting trial? The answer is no.

The truth is pretty clear. Many people here are sympathetic with what he did, therefore they are sympathetic with his comfort level in jail. For the most part, that is all this is really about.

Manning will spend the rest of his life in a cell. His life will be a miserable, isolated hell. This is what happens when one is caught so clearly violating the law and betraying their country.

[vaberella]

29. Exactly. n/t

[karynnj]

31. I agree with you that he will be in jail for years - and that he clearly violated

the law in a way that the government can not condone. However, things like taking away his clothes - for his own safety, seem really shaky. If the real is true, why not give him a paper hospital gown. You can't hang yourself with something like that. If that's not the reason - they shouldn't say that. If not, it is telling that they won't just say that.

[earcandle]

41. He is not going to hang himself. He is innocent until proven guilty. He has no guilt so they are

trying to brainwash him that he is and then go after both him
and Assange on treason issues, which is a totally transparent
move and any bright person can see how corrupt this
administration is choosing to be by keeping Bush torture
tactics alive and well right here in America.  

We have a hell of a lot of work to do to get untrenched from
the current scheme to undermine America as a world power and
reduce its population to slave labor. 

[markpkessinger]

32. Show me a single piece of evidence that the material Manning leaked compromised the U.S. in any way

The government has not even been able to establish a link between Manning and Wikileaks. What's more, none of the material leaked involved current military operations. Manning exposed war crimes. It is the war crimes themselves that were a betrayal of the country, not the exposure of them.

[Bluerthanblue]

35. you don't get to be the judge of that. Mr. Manning will NOT be tried in civilian

courts, and as an active member of the military he didn't/doesn't have the same freedoms as a US civilian. This isn't new- I'm not saying it's 'right' or 'moral' but it is the way our country has operated for a long time.

He knew the risks when he joined the military. I know of someone who was told that he could be facing a court-martial as a result of having an affair. The rules in the military aren't the same.

[chervilant]

33. Blech...

Actually, you don't have the first clue what Mr. Manning did or didn't do. You don't know of what he is guilty or innocent.

And, last I checked, our legal system still promotes the meme "innocent until proven guilty."

You may feel all big and bad posting your 'pretty clear' truths, and presuming to know that "many people here are sympathetic" with what Manning did. However, MOST of us don't have a clue what Manning did or didn't do, and I, for one, am not willing to believe what little I've heard from the MSM.

Frankly, I think whoever was responsible for the security of the 'documents' Manning is alleged to have 'leaked' should be held acountable for their astonishing failure to safeguard said materials. Strange that a lowly little private had (apparently) unfettered access to such a plethora of sensitive stuff.

[Union Scribe]

36. I don't want him tortured either. What's your point?

[earcandle]

40. asshat logic... we all saw Jared Loughner be guilty. Manning is a set up, he said, she said... no

evidence but word of mouth of one not so credible person. 

[verges]

34. When was Manning's trial?

I missed it. After conviction, they can isolate him as much as they want. Before trial, he should be presumedd innocent.

And, yes, I know military courts don't necessarily work that way. But common decency demands it.

[Hippo_Tron]

23. I'm sure that the procedures meet the basic standards

And I'm sure that they were designed to just barely be below whatever treatment is technically considered "torture".

But quite frankly the military's treatment of its detainees in solitary confinement is absurd. Death row inmates get to exercise and sleep in their cells when they want to. Just because it's the military doesn't mean the punishment needs to be even more excessively harsh for no reason.

[Phx_Dem]

37. That asshole isn't being tortured. He's locked up exactly where he should be.

[Name removed]

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