The U.S. soldier accused of leaking secret government files to Wikileaks was stripped and left naked in his cell for seven hours this week, his lawyer said.
Private Bradley Manning’s confinement conditions at a marine-run facility in Quantico, Virginia, have attracted criticism from supporters and lawyer David Coombs.
The intelligence analyst could face the death penalty after being accused of ‘aiding the enemy’ by leaking tens of thousands of confidential embassy cables to Wikileaks.
I see you are a conspiracy theorist too.
I do understand and MY OATH and my service is in following the Constitution. You seem to think because we pledged allegiance that makes us pawns. Pray tell are you self employed? Survive on your own subsistence with no aid from society? You follow someones rules don’t you? So you don’t always agree with your boss do you go rat out the secret ingredients or company tactics to the enemy? No you shut up and take it or if you chose to make a stand you quit! When you join any Military did you really think that it was a game. ANY Soldier in ANY country’s Military will tell you that they are prepared to fight!And knew that an Army is in place to defend a country not a front!Here in the LOVELY U.S of A we all have free will to chose the life we want to and Manning, myself and many other braves souls answered that call, It was totally voluntary and no one held a gun to any of our heads. What other intent is there but to harm your country when you leak classified documents? Treason is by definition to impair the well-being of a state to which one owes allegiance; the crime of giving aid or comfort to the enemies of one’s government. Did he really think tell a coward like Assange (our governments enemy) that was helping his cause? Does he or did he know what Assange’s plan was to do with the information that he fed him? I respect your opinion but until you’ve walked a mile in our shoes, seen the evils that happen overseas by the hands of their own people.( You hear and see on the news only what we do.) You won’t understand!!! And if you have then you are just being Naive.The locals do not accept responsibility for their actions and again that makes us Americans the “bad guys”. We are not perfect but we do it with great intent and with love in our hearts.(just like missionaries except we are well equipped to fend off an attack if need be) And like everyone else we too have flaws, after all we are human. But when you become part of a team and have had to look out for you and everyone else you will never understand what it feels like when a member of your team BETRAYS you. PVT Manning IS OUR DOMESTIC ENEMY.
Putting the nations security in jeopardy
that’s what they want you’ll to believe and like some gullible suckers some of u don’t question any thing .step out of the box and look around do your research don’t u see that all our rights are being taken away slowly but surely everything is being forced on us like vaccines which independent research has shown does nothing to protect us but cause desease in us, generically ingeneered foods the day is coming when we won’t be able to get any natural foods to nourish our bodies and it’s all for profit.our freedom is just an elusion because it always comes down to its for your own good do it or else.This small group of people thought they were doing something good for the rest of us they tried to open our eyes to what these big countries , banks and so on are really doing.If they can tap or phones and set up servallience cammeras on almost every street coner to watch our every move as soon as we step out the door then it’s only fair we know what they’re up to cause their actions always come back to affect us the poor people. And stop fooling people with that lame excuse. The man is not the enemy.
Ahem, err we live in a democrazy!?? step out of the box and think for a moment…compare what happened at Gitmo and in certain Afghan provinces, then read the story again. Committing treason.. against whom???
Dr No,
As a Soldier serving in the United States Military I should let you know that Bradley Manning HURT us his fellow military Comrades more than any other enemy could. to think that we trusted him, we are one team one fight and the mere fact that he forgot the impact that his actions would have on the safety of his buddies is disheartening. We all took an oath and when you stop believing in that oath you should walk away and respect the pride that others take in their patriotism and vows to protect our people, the world and our freedom and not jeopardize the lives of those that have answered the call to duty. It takes heart to do and see the things we do. He exploited the trust and the position that he held. AND that made his actions, treacherous!!!! There is no box to be stepped out of here he was wrong and he knew it. And for endangering the lives of so many others he should pay!!!!!!
A Soldier too,
Tell me: what EXACTLY does your oath say? I believe it goes like this:
“I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
Note how the Constitution of the United States precedes and, therefore, makes subservient to the Constitution all “orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me,….”
I would ask you and all who take the enlistment oath: Have you even read the United States Constitution, much less taken time to know it well enough to recognize when someone (U.S. President, Congress, military leaders, etc.) would be in violation of it? How can you “swear (to) support and defend it when you have no understanding of it, if that is indeed true?
Further, while it may be that Private Manning will be found guilty of “aiding the enemy,” it seems to me that each soldier should ask at least a couple of questions, including: Just because the military has found him “guilty,” what did he in fact do that was treasonous? Also, what has U.S. foreign policy done to help create those who fight against soldiers in the Middle East (and elsewhere, for that matter)? For what are you really fighting there in the Middle East? Are you rooting out those evil Taliban, a U.S.-created entity, if it even exists at all? Maybe you’re there to take out those responsible for 9/11. Oh…wait…there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, the latter of whom is supposedly guilty of being the master-mind of it. (Note that Osama bin Laden isn’t listed on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted,” at least for 9/11 (http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/usama-bin-laden/view)).
While I don’t doubt your patriotism, I do doubt that you understand that the presence of the United States military in these sovereign countries is unwelcome, just as would be the case if an invading military occupied the United States “unlawfully.” What if, say, there was a country that abhorred the killing of pre-born babies (that’d not be the United States, obviously) and decided that the killing needed to stop? To this end said country invaded America. Would we really stand for that? I don’t think so. So tell me why we would expect anything less from another country if we did (or rather, when) the same thing?
We have no moral high ground from which we can blithely condemn another country for its inhuman treatment of its own people. But I digress…slightly.
Sadly, you and your comrades, who I believe are trying to do the right thing, are merely pawns — expendable, human pawns, at that — of a sick country’s foreign policy, intended to further expand her (America’s, that is) reach and influence, to the benefit of those both in political leadership and at the helm of the military-industrial complex.
As an American myself, I am dreadfully sorry to have to say that. But I believe it is true. And the sooner our own soldiers question what it is their leaders are having them do, the sooner the inhuman expansion of the power elite in America and elsewhere will come to an end.
I make no pretense to completely understand the full impact of Private Manning’s effort. But I applaud it nonetheless, because I believe it’s a start in a long-overdue accounting of what the political leadership in America has been up to.
Finally, thank you for your service. Please do all you can to ensure that that service is appropriate — that it’s Constitutional.
We reside in a world that some people think they can talk about and report anything even though it is confidential.
Government matters which are released to the public, to the entirely world in general pose a threat to security, the security of the country and nationals. Those who are entrusted with confidential matters are intelligent and considerate should think before they act and not release government confidential information. This also pertains to others who hold certain positions which are of a confidential nature.
I view this man as not a law-abiding and patriotic citizen. If caught, there is a price to pay for acting indifferently. He is deemed an enemy of his very own country.
There must be good reasons why he was stripped and left naked in his cell, for his safety, that he might not commit suicide. He may have projected that he is a candidate for committing suicide.
WELL SAID
Jerry Brisbane deserves that treatment!
An empty brain like you…. A political puppet and play toy deserves even more…
Putting the nation’s security in jeopardy is not cool, leaving him in his cell naked is nothing to what he did to his country. I hope they hang him. Son of a butcher
Admin: I love the news selection, My husband Pro-Unasul would be proud of you
he committed treason, and he had tunnel vision so bad that he didnt think of all the terror that would happen and the lives that he would in turn put in harms way!! what ever he gets, he more than deserves
We need people to blow the whistle on government officials and politicians alike.
mr manning i feel sorry 4 u my boy,,, but u better be glad that it’s mr obama who’s black that’s in power,,, they will not give u the death penalty trust that,,, but if u did that in mr bush time u’d never be heard of,,,, u knew what u got into,,, the worst people commit treason are those in military service,,, for the military court judges would let mr behanzin look like a baby,,, that’s how harsh they are,,, how can u do such thing,,, u did not even have access to such info but somehow it mysteriously landed in ur hands hhhhmmmm,,,, allu will try all ways to make mr obama look bad,,, when mr obama was just trying to do well with palistinian n even mr ghadaffi in libya,,, u all leaked such info,,, even leaking ghadaffi’s security detail,,, revealing how mrs clinton hates the egyptian leadership at the time etc etc,,,
Treason is a hell of a thing.. bet he never thought that would have happened
tell skerit that………
lol
Do you know the saying, “A thief is not a thief until he/she is caught?” I have no compassion for this man – not a Wikileaks ‘whistleblower’. He should be tried for treason. It is too bad that he may not be hanged as it were in previous years.