I'm sorry that anyone thinks its okay to betray one's country and fellow people in such a way.
I'm sorry that anyone thinks its okay to betray one's country and fellow people in such a way.
Here, I'll help by pasting one of the more important paragraphs right here:
At Quantico, Pfc. Manning treatment wasn’t by the book: the sleep depravation and stripping of clothes; the humiliation; the taunts and mockery; the nine months of putting Pfc. Manning in protected custody citing concerns over suicide—concerns that were rebuffed relentlessly by both Pfc. Manning himself and qualified psychiatrists. That’s why Coombs is looking to have the case against his client thrown out, and Manning’s own testimony this week only accentuated the living nightmare he was made to endure for nearly a year while only a half-hour drive from the capital of the nation. As testimonies from Quantico staff, health professionals, and the private himself continued late into the night all week, often for hours without intermissions, more unraveled about not just the torturous conditions imposed on Pfc. Manning but the blatant mismanagement in the same institution he is accused of blowing the whistle on.
But the article completely ignores his crime, making him sound like a mistreated child, not a treasonous bastard
Bias, exposed.
-- WAT?
There were a couple extra "bits" in there, maybe you missed them.
His prosecution has not yet begun. This article is about the months of torture he has endured while awaiting prosecution. Nor does the article make any claims about his guilt or innocence (apart from using the term "alleged", and thereby not pre-declaring his guilt before trial as you have done). Presuming that he is guilty: do the guilty deserve torture? This isn't a case of "information extraction", the excuse that is often used nowadays. This is punishment, nothing but vengeance. I don't care what he's done; his treatment does not sit well with me.
(Consider more obvious human rights violations protected by law in certain jurisdictions: stoning people to death for adultery, killing someone's entire family for writing an anti-government blog post, the list goes on. The mistreatment of Manning is just another entry in this long list.)
In fact it does. When you join the Army you become property of the US Army. You lose most all legal and civil protection.
I am not saying that justifies torture. But your rights are substantially different in the military. You are officially AWOL if you are late to formation (i.e. Being late to work is a potentially serious crime if they want to make a big deal out of it). You cannot call in sick. You show up for formation and after formation you request sick call. If the doctor puts you on profile and bed rest, you might be excused from work for a few days.
Etc.
It is not a normal job.
That being aside, torture is wrong.
Also it's unclear what torture took place, the article fails to mention anything worse than what happens to child molesters in regular prisons, and Manning's crime is of the same caliber, whether you like the US's actions or not betraying your word and countrymen is a terrible crime.