Private First Class Bradley Manning
(United States Army, Wikimedia Commons)
How very 2003 of this administration. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley spoke out last week at a forum in Cambridge, Mass., saying that the Defense Department's treatment of Bradley Manning "is ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid." It's also in violation of the Geneva Conventions, and though Manning is not a prisoner of war, as Glenn says, the Geneva Conventions should provide "the minimal protections to which all detainees—let alone citizens convicted of nothing—are entitled." Indeed, reports of Manning's treatment at the hands of his own government have led to a United Nation's investigation. That was before the daily forced nudity regimen was imposed upon him.
So P.J. Crowley is forced out of the administration for telling the truth, for pointing out that the treatment of Manning is abusive. From the State Department's perspective, it's probably even more troubling. If the U.S. is willing to so blatantly and publicly abuse its own citizens, assurances from our diplomatic corps that we are still a nation of law must be more and more difficult for other governments to buy. Which is precisley why Crowley spoke out. His resignation statement makes that clear.
My recent comments regarding the conditions of the pre-trial detention of Private First Class Bradley Manning were intended to highlight the broader, even strategic impact of discreet actions undertaken by national security agencies every day and their impact on our global standing and leadership. The exercise of power in today's challenging times and relentless media environment must be prudent and consistent with our laws and values.
The reviews at home should be worrisome enough for this administration.
Matt Yglesias wrote that "to hold a person without trial in solitary confinement under degrading conditions is a perversion of justice" and that it's a "sad statement about America that P.J. Crowley is the one being forced to resign over Bradley Manning." Andrew Sullivan -- writing under the headline "Obama Owns the Treatment of Manning Now" -- said that Crowley was forced out "for the offense of protesting against the sadistic military treatment of Bradley Manning," that "the president has now put his personal weight behind prisoner abuse," and that "Obama is directly responsible for the inhumane treatment of an American citizen." Meanwhile, Ezra Klein previews his denunciation of the President's treatment of Manning and Crowley by announcing that it's his first ever lede "that isn’t about economic or domestic policy" but rather is "about right and wrong," and then questions "whether the Obama administration is keeping sight of its values now that it holds power." Those strong words are all from supporters of the President.
Elsewhere, The Philadelphia Daily News' progressive columnist Will Bunch accuses Obama of "lying" during the campaign by firing Crowley and endorsing "the bizarre and immoral treatment of the alleged Wikileaks leaker." In The Guardian, Obama voter Daniel Ellsberg condemns "this shameful abuse of Bradley Manning," arguing that it "amounts to torture" and "makes me feel ashamed for the [Marine] Corps," in which Ellsberg served three years, including nine months at Quantico. Baltimore Sun columnist Ron Smith asks: "Why is the U.S. torturing Private Manning?," while UCLA Professor Mark Kleiman -- who only last year hailed Obama as "the greatest moral leader of our lifetime" and eagerly suggested on Friday (before Obama's Press Conference) that Crowley was speaking for Obama -- mocked Obama's defense of the Manning treatment as "clueless on the Bush level" and now says of Crowley's firing: "The Torturers Win One," while lamenting Obama's overt support for a policy that he calls "unconscionable and un-American and borderline criminal."
President Obama told the nation in his press conference last week that he accepted the Pentagon's assurances that "the procedures that have been taken in terms of [Manning's] confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards." With those words, President Obama took ownership of Manning's abuse, took ownership of actions that the UN could very well conclude are torture.
Forcing Crowley out for shining a light on the issue only compounds the problem this administration has with transparency. Its relentless war on whistleblowers and leakers—particularly in national security and civil liberties cases—is in direct contradiction to his campaign promises that whistleblowers would be protected because "such acts of courage and patriotism should be encouraged rather than stifled." It's also the last inheritance from the Bush administration Obama should have sought to uphold.