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In reply to the discussion: Bradley Manning testifying today... [View all]Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)19. Michael Ratner from the Center of Constitutional Rights on Democracy Now
talking about yesterdays testimony.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/11/30/accused_wikileaks_whistleblower_bradley_manning_testifies
What came outwhat it began with was really his arrest in late May of 2010. He was almost immediately taken to Kuwait. And thats wherereally where they got him in a way that really, for a period of time, almost destroyed him. They put him into cages that he described as eight-by-eight-by-eight. There were two cages. He said they were like animal cages. They were allthey were in a tent alone, just these two cages, side by side. One of them had whatever possessions he may have had; one of them, he was in, with a little bed for a rack and a toilet, dark, in this cage for almost two months. He was taken out for a short while and then, without explanation, put back in the cage, meals in the cage, etc., all of that.
And thenwait until you hear this. They would wake him at night at 11:00 p.m., 10:00 or 11:00, and his dayor nightwas all night, and he was allowed to go back to sleep at 12:00 or 1:00, noon, the next day. So when we think about what happened to people at Guantánamo or sensory deprivation or what McCoy says in his books on torture, what are they trying to do except destroy this human being?
And he said, "For me, I stopped keeping track. I didnt know whether night was day or day was night. And my world became very, very small. It became these cages. And Im person," he saidthis was really, I thoughtall of us really were interested in it. He said, "Im someone who likes current events. I take a broader view of the world." And he gave an example of the oil spill in the Gulf. And he said, you know, "When that ended," and he said, "my world all of a sudden was totally confined to these cages." And that was almost two months in Kuwait, something that none of us really knew about for this period. And he went on to talk about then what happens when he went to Quantico.
....
Whats remarkable is that he still has this incredible dignity after going through this. But I think all these prison conditions weresure, they were angry at Bradley Manning, but in the face of that psychiatric statement, that this guy shouldnt be kept on suicide risk or POI, theyre still keeping him in inhuman conditions, you can only ask yourselftheyre trying to break him for some reason. The lawyer, David Coombs, has said its so that he can give evidence against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.
And thenwait until you hear this. They would wake him at night at 11:00 p.m., 10:00 or 11:00, and his dayor nightwas all night, and he was allowed to go back to sleep at 12:00 or 1:00, noon, the next day. So when we think about what happened to people at Guantánamo or sensory deprivation or what McCoy says in his books on torture, what are they trying to do except destroy this human being?
And he said, "For me, I stopped keeping track. I didnt know whether night was day or day was night. And my world became very, very small. It became these cages. And Im person," he saidthis was really, I thoughtall of us really were interested in it. He said, "Im someone who likes current events. I take a broader view of the world." And he gave an example of the oil spill in the Gulf. And he said, you know, "When that ended," and he said, "my world all of a sudden was totally confined to these cages." And that was almost two months in Kuwait, something that none of us really knew about for this period. And he went on to talk about then what happens when he went to Quantico.
....
Whats remarkable is that he still has this incredible dignity after going through this. But I think all these prison conditions weresure, they were angry at Bradley Manning, but in the face of that psychiatric statement, that this guy shouldnt be kept on suicide risk or POI, theyre still keeping him in inhuman conditions, you can only ask yourselftheyre trying to break him for some reason. The lawyer, David Coombs, has said its so that he can give evidence against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.
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He was tortured. And where is the outrage we used to see, at least from the Left,
sabrina 1
Nov 2012
#28
Manning is done with defense quetioning. Tomorrow is the prosecutions turn.
Luminous Animal
Nov 2012
#10
Yes they did. Many kudos to Glenn Greenwald being one of the first to raise the alarm
Luminous Animal
Nov 2012
#13
Manning is a whistle blower. More Whistle Blowers have been prosecuted under this administration
sabrina 1
Nov 2012
#29
Manning is a Whistle Blower. I will take the word of some of this country's most respected
sabrina 1
Nov 2012
#30
I am sure he has no clue what he released to this day. He is not a whistle-blower.
NCTraveler
Nov 2012
#34
But...but!!! Ellsberg exposed crimes by a sitting President! He's a TRAITOR! blahblahblah!
Zorra
Nov 2012
#45
Note: do not read the Yahoo article on this. There are some truly disheartening comments.
Initech
Nov 2012
#17
The Right Wing hates Manning because he exposed mostly Bush War Crimes. I expect nothing
sabrina 1
Nov 2012
#31
I've read the Right Wing's comments on Manniing so I know their views. I did not read
sabrina 1
Nov 2012
#38
Michael Ratner from the Center of Constitutional Rights on Democracy Now
Luminous Animal
Nov 2012
#19
Sick. Disturbing beyond belief. But then, when we learned of our torture policies towards
sabrina 1
Nov 2012
#32
Very brave. He could have done what they wanted him to do and lied. But it was always clear
sabrina 1
Nov 2012
#33
We should be ashamed. But that would mean we had a conscience and all the other human
sabrina 1
Nov 2012
#43