by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
The United States, governed by a Nobel Peace Prize winner, tortures political prisoners. That truth is on display for all the world to see, in the treatment of Wikileaks defendant Private Bradley Manning, who is stripped naked every night in an effort to crush his psyche. “The enemy is anyone, anywhere who dares to consider revealing the truth about how this country actually conducts itself around the world.”
Freedom Rider: Peace Prize Torture
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
“Manning is denied the use of sheets and now is forced to sleep naked and stand naked outside of his cell when it is inspected.”
If members of the Norwegian Nobel committee do not feel embarrassment for making Barack Obama a peace prize laureate, then they are as shameless as the man they foolishly chose to honor. Barack Obama is every bit the authoritarian as his predecessor George W. Bush. He too believes in his right to declare anyone an enemy combatant and restrict their rights to due process. He too has cracked down on whistle blowers and is determined to ferret them out and punish them.
The continued psychological torture of Pfc. Bradley Manning is the latest case in point. Manning is accused of leaking information to Julian Assange of Wikileaks, telling the world about the indiscriminate killings of Iraqis and other horrors brought about by the continuing American occupation.
Manning, who has yet to be tried or convicted of any crime, has been kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day ever since his arrest ten months ago. Last week the army added 22 additional charges, including “aiding the enemy.”
“Manning has been kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day ever since his arrest ten months ago.”
Manning’s one hour outside of his cell allows him only to walk in circles in another room. He is denied the use of sheets and now is forced to sleep naked and stand naked outside of his cell when it is inspected.
The government’s objective is a simple one. They want to break Manning so that he will talk about any communications he has had with Julian Assange. In other words, they are trying to drive him crazy in order to prosecute someone else. Manning has been denied visits from friends, journalists and even government officials such as Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
When the state decides to destroy a human being, a member of Congress gets the bum’s rush as quickly as anyone else. Manning, Kucinich, and the rest of us, must be taught a simple lesson. It is true that Manning is being used to get to Julian Assange, but the significance of his treatment goes much deeper.
We are all being warned not to get any big ideas about telling the truth. The new charges claim that Manning aided the enemy. The charge doesn’t say who the enemy is, but that doesn’t really matter. The enemy is anyone, anywhere who dares to consider revealing the truth about how this country actually conducts itself around the world.
“Ultimately, Barack Obama is responsible for Manning’s treatment.”
Among the files which Manning allegedly leaked is a video showing American soldiers shooting a Reuters photographer and his driver, and an innocent bystander and his young children, and then laughing as an already dead body is crushed by an armored vehicle. The soldiers also enjoy themselves. They are positively gleeful about committing murder, laughing at their victims and pleading with their superiors to allow them to kill more people.
Anyone who reveals this grotesque behavior becomes a de facto enemy of the state. It was so during the Bush administration and now it is so as Obama sits in the oval office. Ultimately, Barack Obama is responsible for Manning’s treatment. Even if he did not directly order it, he certainly is aware of it now, and if it continues, it is because he wants it to.
“Manning’s treatment is not an aberration of American policy.”
It is important to note that Manning’s treatment is not an aberration of American policy. Even supporters like Kucinich miss that fact, asking “Is this Quantico or Abu Ghraib?” The answer is that Quantico and Abu Ghraib are one in the same. It is United States government policy to torture prisoners both domestically and internationally, petty criminals, “enemy combatants” and whistle blowers can all expect the same treatment.
The question now is about Barack Obama and the treatment he deserves. Will he be punished for betraying his supporters in this country and for continuing to bring death and destruction in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia? He shouldn’t be tortured, but he should experience what is torture to a politician. He must be opposed and his policies must be resisted. He should see usually reliable Democrat voters vote for third and fourth parties. If not, then Manning will have suffered for no reason and no one will again dare to bring the truth to light.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.com.
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