The Obama Administration is Torturing Bradley Manning

Bradley Manning has not been convicted of a crime, and what he's accused of doing – leaking classified documents exposing war crimes and the U.S. government's cover up of child rape and torture – would, in a free society, be considered a public service. But right now he's being tortured.

Manning has of course been accused of many things: of being a traitor; of being maladjusted; of using “big words”; of being (gasp) a homosexual. He's even been accused of having the blood of U.S. service members on his hands – by the very military and political officials who have had no qualms sending young men and women off to kill and be killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ordering drone strikes and cluster bombings in Pakistan and Yemen.

What the 22-year-old Manning allegedly did, though – reportedly out of a desire to let the public in on the “incredible things, awful things” he came across as a military intelligence official – is to let taxpayers know what they're tax dollars are helping to finance: like child rape parties in Afghanistan, secret cluster bombings in Yemen that killed dozens of women and children, the cold-blooded murder of innocent Iraqis and journalists, State Department spying on U.S. allies and United Nations diplomats.

But while the U.S. political and media establishment – is there even a distinction? – have sought to focus public anger on Manning and his Australian colleague in truth-telling, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, for not having the good sense to keep quiet about the murder of innocents abroad, Manning is not without his supporters.

“If Bradley Manning did what he’s accused of, then he’s a hero of mine and I think he did a great service to this country,” Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers and helped end the war in Vietnam, said in a recent interview. The anti-war group Code Pink has called on President Obama to pardon Manning. And Courage to Resist, which encourages members of the military to refuse participation in “illegal war and occupation,” has raised more than $94,000 for his defense. The Bradley Manning Support Network is also helping raise funds for Manning's defense, an act that has seen members of the group harassed by law enforcement officials.

And Manning needs the support now more than ever.

As Salon's Glenn Greenwald reports, despite President Obama's politically calculated claim to have ended the use of torture by the U.S. government – at the same time he refuses to “look backwards” and hold torturers responsible for their actions – Bradley Manning is, right now, suffering the worst form of it.

For the better part of a year, Manning has been detained in a military prison – first in Kuwait, now in Quantico, Virginia – in strict isolation. “For 23 out of 24 hours every day -- for seven straight months and counting -- he sits completely alone in his cell,” reports Greenwald. “Even inside his cell, his activities are heavily restricted; he's barred even from exercising and is under constant surveillance to enforce those restrictions. For reasons that appear completely punitive, he's being denied many of the most basic attributes of civilized imprisonment, including even a pillow or sheets for his bed (he is not and never has been on suicide watch).”

Such treatment is tantamount to psychological torture: a deliberate attempt to destroy Bradley Manning's mind by making him feel helpless and alone. And as Greenwald notes, the tactics are so extreme even Tunisia, an authoritarian state in North Africa, has pledged “it will no longer place prisoners in solitary confinement for more than 10 days,” according to Human Rights Watch.

“Even if you are a fan of the state’s criminal justice system,” writes one critic, “even if you are uneasy about the assertion that the United States government is torturing him, you will do well to acknowledge that Manning is already being punished, not just being held, for crimes he has yet to stand trial for.”

Manning will be turning 23 years old on December 17. Let him know that he's not forgotten -- that he's not alone -- by writing to him, care of Courage to Resist, at 484 Lake Park Ave #41, Oakland, CA 94610. Rather than buy cheap, forgettable crap for your family this year, you can also make a donation in their name to Manning's defense fund (especially if you want to get a rise out of that special right-winger in your life). And don't forget the politicians, especially one Barack Obama: be sure to let them know how you feel about the torture of a brave American who, at worst, risked his life to expose the truth about his government.

Photo Credit: Courage to Resist