… or at least give you a lot more free time. P J Crowley, the State Department spokesman, resigned because he had called the treatment of PFC Bradley Manning “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” If Manning has indeed been treated the way his lawyer and his advocates say he has been treated, his treatment is worse than stupid — it is wrong.
Manning, as a member of the United States Armed Forces, is subject to harsher law than civilians; he is nonetheless presumed innocent. Whether he is guilty or not, however, the conditions of his confinement appear to violate basic human rights. He has apparently been kept in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day. Solitary confinement, particularly for prolonged periods, is not only cruel, but can cause permanent or long-lasting psychological damage. (See here for additional information.)
The treatment of Manning and the resignation of Crowley are one part of a disturbing pattern in the Obama administration’s handling of issues of human rights. On March 7, 2011, the administration decided to relaunch the trial of Guantanamo detainees — detainees who have languished in our extraterritorial prison for years. Yet when Obama ran for President, he promised to close Guantanamo.
We have long claimed that we are different. We claim to be the country of freedom, of rights, of due process. What happens to us when we abandon our ideals? What happens to us when we place expediency above principle? One thing is certain: we won’t be free.
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