While all of us who are not even Christians celebrate this festive season with presents, family gatherings, parties, cakes and large buffets full of delicious dishes, there is one young man, a courageous man, who went out of his way to make this world a better and peaceful place, who chose to fight the war-mongers whose actions resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands and destroyed equally many families, who overestimated the compassion of his fellow human beings will be spending his Christmas without his family and without his friends, in the same cell he's been held in solitary confinement for over 200 days in the following conditions: Get a wakeup call, probably by a kick in the guts at 5AM Spend 23 hours in the darkness of the same cell Not be allowed to sleep for a minute since 5AM till 8PM No exercise allowed Forcible medication with anti-depressants [video=youtube;-9Gw7NFIILE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9Gw7NFIILE[/video] Manning is a clear instance of a genuine whistle blower risking his career for the sake of transparency, justice and freedom. My sympathies, my support and my best wishes are with bradass87 and his efforts to expose the new Nazis and the new Soviet. I will do everything within my means and beyond to Help him and I hope all of you will join me in wishing him a hopefully Merry Christmas. Support Pfc. Bradley Manning, the real, forgotten, and jailed hero of the WikiLeaks saga. http://standwithbrad.org/ We stand with You and Yes, Courage is Contagious.
Do you have a source for these conditions? How is the kick in the guts probable? What makes you think that his cell is dark? What's wrong with nine hours of sleeping time per day? I sleep less than that and I do more than sit around in a cell. Are you sure he's not permitted to do exercise, even in his cell, like pushups, situps, and jumping jacks? Are you sure he isn't let out one hour per day to do other exercise? Didn't he release information that had nothing to do with the war? What's his heroic excuse for that?
I'll take your questioning of my sources for these conditions as conceding that these are inhuman if they are true.. Now coming to conditions: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/14/manning/index.html If thats not credible for you, then check any other news source, since you are American, preferably MSNBC. Hope you'll do your proper research and Choose to support the right side. Merry Christmas.
1) I am not American. 2) I would agree that if his solitary confinement includes those conditions, it is an infringement on his rights. 3) Though his rights may be infringed on, it does not justify the theft and distribution of information which he is accused of committing. It's hard to justify it as an anti-war measure when he also released plenty of unrelated diplomatic cables. He simply wanted notoriety for stealing government files--that seems obvious by his bragging about it to various people. 4) There is no "side" for me to support. I don't care about partisan things. I can simultaneously take the positions that his rights are being infringed on, and that he is a criminal. There's no reason to divide the world into two fixed positions of "right" or "wrong" rather than exploring each issue separately. I see no conflict in suggesting that his right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment should be preserved, and he should still be prosecuted for the crimes he is accused of committing. 5) Merry Christmas to you, too.
Ahh poor baby his right to be be free as a murdering little bird is violated. The source of this story is the confession of a friend . If you had a friend in a military jail you'd also try to get support to get him out . This story is as biased as it can be . IMHO pretty Bradly deserves to spend Christmas along whit those who lost their lives because black ops couldn't do their job . Hypocrisy much Helvetii or you just didn't know the source of the news ?
...and those include personal gain? Manning is a prisoner for conscientious objections, the material not withstanding.
I wouldn't be too quick to judge that. He might as well be a whistle blower. He hasn't been charged for 7 months now and whether he should be convicted or not is for the highest court in the land to decide.
Too quick to judge? You've already made judgment that Assange is not guilty of rape, without the need for a trial. Looking at the confessions Manning made n his own chat sessions, there is no question he released the data. Looking at the data that was released, I have yet to see a single thing that would qualify him for whistle blowing protection. I agree he deserves a speedy trial but unfortunately, the wheels of our legal system turn pretty slowly these days, sometimes taking a couple years to complete the process. If you wanted to start a thread complaining that the US legal system takes too long, rendering it in violation of our constitutional right to a speedy trial, I would probably weigh in on your side of that argument. As far as solitary confinement being torture, that's just more political spin. Prisoners are and have been kept in solitary confinement in our state, federal, and military detention centers for a very long time. Trying to make it an issue now that this traitor is being subjected to solitary is just more fodder for idiots. Perhaps we should send him to India so he can be legally electrocuted on a daily basis.
Manning is subject to the UCMJ, which is not as criminal-friendly as civilian law. Legally speaking, Manning has fewer rights than an enemy prisoner who had not first enlisted with the U.S. military. Yes, Bradley's life probably sucks right now -- irrespective of the dubious claims made to and by the gullible Salon reporter. As much as I am sympathetic to any herd animal which is kept in solitary confinement, I am more sympathetic to Pvt. Manning's victims. Manning's actions provided aid and comfort to the enemy. His actions will delay victory -- will delay freedom for millions of human beings across the globe. Here are some less well publicized facts about the suckage which is Bradley's life: Safety and Security = Job #1 at the Brig I'm very disappointed with the information presented as "facts" in this opinion editorial, as I helped the author obtain answers to questions he had about the facility here at Quantico. The notion that the Marines posted at Quantico's brig are anything but professional is absurd. Not only are they responsible and accountable for the detainee's security, they are also responsible and accountable for the detainee's safety. ANYONE attempting to harm a detainee in their charge would find themselves in a very difficult situation. Thanks for letting me have my say. These are the questions AND answers provided to the journalist last night. You guys can decide if the Op-ed was fair: Q1) Is Pfc. Manning restricted on what he can watch on television? A1) Pfc. Manning, as well as every other maximum custody detainee, is allotted approximately one hour of television per day. He may view any of the available channels. Viewing time may fluctuate slightly depending on the number of detainees being held at the time, but each detainee will be allotted an equal amount. Q2) Is there anyone Pfc. Manning is not allowed to correspond or visit with? A2) Pfc. Manning, as well as all other maximum custody detainees, is allowed to correspond and visit with only those HE has personally identified as whom he would like to correspond and visit with. Q3) Is Pfc. Manning allowed to converse with other detainees? A3) Pfc. Manning is allowed to converse with other detainees as long as the conversation does not interfere with good order and discipline. Q4) How much time does Pfc. Manning get outside of his cell each day? A4) Pfc. Manning is allotted one hour of recreation time per day, as is every other maximum custody detainee. Depending on the weather, his recreation time may be spend indoors or outdoors. Activities may include calisthenics, running, basketball, etc. Q5) Is Pfc. Manning allowed to exercise in his cell? A5) No detainees are allowed to exercise in their cell. As a matter of safety, all exercise must be supervised. Q6) What type of bedding is Pfc. Manning issued? A6) Pfc. Manning, as well as all other detainees, is issued adequate bedding. Furthermore, A maximum custody detainee is able to receive the same privileges that a detainee classified as general population may receive. These privileges include but are not limited to sending and receiving mail, command visitation, personal visitation. A maximum custody detainee also receives daily television, hygiene call, reading and outside physical activity without restraint. He receives the same approved daily meals from the base food service master menu as any other service member would receive. Due to a potential of either high probability of escape, those likely to be dangerous or violent, and those whose escape would cause concern of a threat to life, property, or national security; maximum custody detainees are under constant supervision and have regular interaction with authorized supervisory personnel assigned to the facility to include physicians. Yes, this is assuredly unpleasant -- but Pvt. Manning is not the victim here. Manning willfully and maliciously undermined efforts to liberate millions of suffering human beings. If there is a hell, Manning's eventual fate will be far worse than his current one.
Spencer, have you a complaint from Manning concerning his conditions? What he did was from his own conscientious beliefs that coincided with his deployment and his reactions to the conditions within the military he was assigned to. There is something obviously wrong within the military itself Manning is trying to expose. Using religion as a vehicle to spread your hate leaves you in no different a condition than Manning.
Althou , your post has some sense I just feel the need to post something from your garden . Heeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Breeze : [video=youtube;WeYsTmIzjkw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeYsTmIzjkw[/video]
Whilst murderers, cheats & liars still rule the world Manning hasn't got a chance in hell of getting the justice he deserves. He noticed severe shortcomings and illegal activities going on in his government and turned whistleblower in order to reveal the truth of how millions are unfairly being killed by US led war criminals for the sake of their oil. Nothing to do with a moralistic position of 'liberating the oppressed'.
Yeah, Afghanistan's oil reserves are just fabulous. Well, at least you're willing to admit that Bradley knowingly and willingly joined the opposing forces. Unlike the Rosenberg's, I doubt he'll get the justice he deserves.
Opposing right-winger war criminals is a law one must adhere to. Yes, I agree, just like me, he took opposing side. He's taking side with the majority of Americans that the right-wing have taken your country through the wringer and totally fucked up any credibility you had in the eyes of the world. Most people, including the majority of Americans, believe that neo-con led wars are very wrong and if our leaders need to uphold criminality in order to acheive their aim of allowing the corporates to take over your world then the future of your country is bleak indeed.
U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan All this minerals are on top of important geographical location of Afghanistan which is vital for American pipelines.
Repeat after me : Minerals where recently discovered , Minerals where recently discovered , Minerals where recently discovered . Now then , do you see the situation more clearly ?
It doesn´t answer the part about the pipeline which has to go through Afghanistan which U.S. government invited Talibans to USA a couple of months before 9/11 but couldn´t come to an agreement with them. It is also hard to believe with all the mining companies which use latest technologies to search for different type of mines, USA had no idea that Afghanistan had deposits of Iron, copper,... when their neighbor Iran is a big producer of such products.
Iran has big mines of copper but Iron is different. our Iron mines even not enogh for our steel makers and we buy most part of iron minerals from India.
You need a team of experts gathering a huge number of samples whit tons of equipment before you can confirm a decent deposit . Kind of hard to move lorries of scientific equipment whit people wanting to behead you . Source : I got a degree in geography ; geology and prospecting was covered in several classes .