Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Across the Pond: This week, Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, was released on bail from a London prison. Assange will remain under “mansion arrest” at the 600-acre estate of Vaughan Smith, a London restaurateur and former war correspondent. He plans to fight extradition to Sweden where he would face sex crimes allegations.
Back Here at Home: Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U. S. Army intelligence specialist who has been accused of leaking classified documents to Wikileaks, has been held
in solitary confinement at the marine brig in Quantico, Virginia, for five months. Before being transferred to Quantico, Manning was held in a military jail in Kuwait for two months. Manning will face a court martial on charges that he provided Wikileaks with classified information in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Bradley Manning is being kept under constant surveillance and is “under a regimen of authority-administered anti-depressant drugs.” He is reportedly not permitted to have a pillow or sheets—and not permitted to exercise. He is allowed out of his cell for just one hour a day.
According to MSNBC, Manning is being held under harsher conditions than “Bryan Minkyu Martin, the naval intelligence specialist who allegedly tried to sell military secrets to an undercover FBI agent.” Minkyu, who is awaiting trial, is not being held in solitary confinement.
From Glenn Greenwald: “Just by itself, the type of prolonged solitary confinement to which Manning has been subjected for many months is widely viewed around the world as highly injurious, inhumane, punitive, and arguably even a form of torture.”
All this harsh treatment—and Manning hasn’t even been convicted of the crime for which he has been charged.
For further reading on a related topic: DOJ Says Pentagon Isn’t Properly Protecting Whistleblowers (Turley Blawg)
Sources:
The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning’s detention by Glenn Greenwald (Salon)
Forgetting Bradley Manning by Laura Flanders (The Notion: The Nation’s Group Blog)
Bradley Manning’s Personal Hell (MSNBC)
Photo of Bradley Manning courtesy of the Bradley Manning Support Network
And while the state is looking for “the bad guys” in all the wrong places, we’ll have another crisis… which will only spur on the beast.
(Buddha, I think I’d better order those H&D’s chocolates, so that I can eat, drink and be merry…)
Well, as it’s been said, there are no accidents… I hadn’t intended to post all of that — I was editing…
One correction:
“Those involved are to destroy and/or break people.” SB
The process is designed to destroy and/or break people.
Anyway… it’s just another day in America. “Happy Holidays” to all of us.
McCarthyism on Steroids: Monitoring Americans.by Jesselyn Radack
on December 20, 2010 ( The Whistleblogger / 2010 )
http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/31-2010/902-mccarthyism-on-steroids-monitoring-americans
“At fusion centers, SARS are then forwarded to the nearest FBI terrorism unit, which would immediately enter it into the “Guardian database.” Most often, the FBI makes no specific determination, which means that the SAR sits in the database where other pieces of information about the person–employment, financial and residential histories, phone numbers, and anything else in government or commercial databases “that adds value”–is added to it.”
“This is the new domestic terrorism prevention. It used to be called McCarthyism. Or, more accurately, the Stasi–getting everyone to spy on everyone else. . .”
========================
And, the money is flowing… to those who are all-too-willing to assist the state in fighting the war on terror. People are getting homes, cars, educations and cash, compliments of the state. Informants and snitches are being used in unprecedented ways…
It doesn’t stop with information gathering. Homes are being entered surreptitiously; personal property is often vandalized; thefts are common; defamation and job-interference are another piece of it; and the list goes on. It’s a new form of McCarthyism. Those involved are to destroy and/or break people. For now, they’re going after those who are most vulnerable… It’s state-supported, domestic terrorism in America. The state is targeting people for destruction, making the claim that it’s ferreting out domestic terrorists. It’s a vicious circle… and it’s feeding the national security beast.
Those who try to blow the whistle on any aspect of it, like Russell Tice and others, are dismissed and discredited. Of course, they must be “crazy”…
From Huffington Post (12/20/2010)
WikiLeaks: Yemen Nuclear Material Was Unsecured
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/20/wikileaks-yemen-nuclear-m_n_798967.html
Excerpt:
CAIRO — A storage facility housing Yemen’s radioactive material was unsecured for up to a week after its lone guard was removed and its surveillance camera was broken, a secret U.S. State Department cable released by WikiLeaks revealed Monday.
The message, dated Jan. 9, relates the worries of a Yemeni official, whose name was removed, about the unguarded state of a National Atomic Energy Commission facility. He pushes the U.S. embassy to urge his own government to secure the material.
“Very little now stands between the bad guys and Yemen’s nuclear material,” the official is quoted as saying in the cable, which appeared on the website of the British Guardian newspaper.
Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, hosts a particularly active branch of Al-Qaida that has not only repeatedly attacked the Yemeni government but attempted several attacks against the U.S. including last year’s failed plot to blow up an airliner in Detroit on Christmas.
C.Everett,
Thanks for the link!
The “good old days” = the older I get the better I was
Elaine M. : more on Net Neutrality
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/19/wireless-carriers-openly-considering-charging-per-service/
For one, I’ve been saying all along (with many of the other regulars here) that not only “it can happen here” but that “it is happening here”.
Denial is a strong mechanism when the truth is so dire.
But like any retreat into fantasy, ultimately futile.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/bitter_memories_of_war_on_the_way_to_jail_20101220/ This is Chris Hedges’ account of Thursday’s protest.
Mike Spindell,
It’s not the stuff that is “classified” that bothers me as much as the stuff that falls under the category of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). That is where I think most of the embarassing stuff goes to hide at the federal level.
http://www.archives.gov/cui/
At the same time, it seems to me that we’re very good at convincing ourselves that it really isn’t that bad…. that things haven’t changed that much. We’re very adept, it seems, at holding onto the idea that “it can’t happen here.”
Off Topic:
Senator Al Franken addresses Net Neutrality in his article in the Huffington Post today. It’s an issue that has had me worried for some time. I think the subject is of great import—yet it gets little coverage in the MSM.
From Huffington Post (12/20/2010)
The Most Important Free Speech Issue of Our Time
By Al Franken
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-franken/the-most-important-free-s_b_798984.html
Excerpt:
That’s why Tuesday is such an important day. The FCC will be meeting to discuss those regulations, and we must make sure that its members understand that allowing corporations to control the Internet is simply unacceptable.
Although Chairman Genachowski’s draft Order has not been made public, early reports make clear that it falls far short of protecting net neutrality.
For many Americans — particularly those who live in rural areas — the future of the Internet lies in mobile services. But the draft Order would effectively permit Internet providers to block lawful content, applications, and devices on mobile Internet connections.
Mobile networks like AT&T and Verizon Wireless would be able to shut off your access to content or applications for any reason. For instance, Verizon could prevent you from accessing Google Maps on your phone, forcing you to use their own mapping program, Verizon Navigator, even if it costs money to use and isn’t nearly as good. Or a mobile provider with a political agenda could prevent you from downloading an app that connects you with the Obama campaign (or, for that matter, a Tea Party group in your area).
It gets worse. The FCC has never before explicitly allowed discrimination on the Internet — but the draft Order takes a step backwards, merely stating that so-called “paid prioritization” (the creation of a “fast lane” for big corporations who can afford to pay for it) is cause for concern.
It sure is — but that’s exactly why the FCC should ban it. Instead, the draft Order would have the effect of actually relaxing restrictions on this kind of discrimination.
What’s more, even the protections that are established in the draft Order would be weak because it defines “broadband Internet access service” too narrowly, making it easy for powerful corporations to get around the rules.
Here’s what’s most troubling of all. Chairman Genachowski and President Obama — who nominated him — have argued convincingly that they support net neutrality.
But grassroots supporters of net neutrality are beginning to wonder if we’ve been had. Instead of proposing regulations that would truly protect net neutrality, reports indicate that Chairman Genachowski has been calling the CEOs of major Internet corporations seeking their public endorsement of this draft proposal, which would destroy it.
About “the good old days”…
Well said, Buddha, and Swarthmore mom.
A dose of reality is a good thing.
OS,
“I know what I am talking about” is not an answer to my question.
I asked you what standard (or definition) you used to determine that Manning “is under sensory deprivation”. Please answer the question.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/monitoring-america/ Here is one for you, anon nurse.
The “good old days” is an illusion propagated by those who would see the progress of liberalism as espoused by the English and French Enlightenment and embraced by our Founding Fathers rolled back – either out of fear of change and/or a desire to retain control. The “good old days” were simply the “old days”.
Swarthmore mom wrote: “I am definitely not saying things are good now, but I am not sure the old days were so great, either.”
Of course you’re right about this — it’s good to be reminded.
BBB: I am using a professional standard. I am a forensic scientist specializing in behavior and psychological problems. I know what I am talking about.
Elaine M.
1, December 20, 2010 at 9:33 am
Buddha,
“Glenn Greenwald talks about the WAPO article in his piece at Salon today.”
“That practice is becoming increasingly common, aimed at people who have done nothing more than dissent from government policy; I intend to have more on that soon. If American citizens don’t object to the permanent seizure and copying of their laptops and cellphones without any warrants or judicial oversight, what would they ever object to?”
=========================
American citizens won’t object en masse. As long as life is fairly comfortable for most, little will change. And we’re good at shooting the messengers — we’re very effective at marginalizing and discreding those who seriously challenge the status quo. We’re eating our own, but no matter…
Also, the house committee on un-american activities did not focus their attention on the Klan. I am definitely not saying things are good now, but I am not sure the old days were so great, either.
When my jewish father-in-law returned to Chicago after serving in World War II, he could not find a place to live. The signs on the rental properties said, “no jews or dogs”. When were the “gold old days”?