Manning Should Be Removed from Solitary

[bemildred]

So as best I can tell Manning is, in fact, guilty of serious crimes. And unlike the nutty and dangerous effort to legally sanction Julian Assange for publishing leaks, I have no problem with the government punishing people who violate the terms of their classification status. But Manning hasn't had a trial and hasn't been convicted. Somewhat punitive post-arrest pre-trial measures are kind of a necessary evil, but the prolonged confinement of Manning under cruel conditions go well beyond the necessary into the straightforward evil.

Incidentally, I assume the majority of humanity, including many of the officials responsible for the conditions of Manning's detention, haven't read Atul Gawande's brilliant March 2009 article on solitary confinement. But absolutely everybody should. It utterly transformed my conception of what it meant to hold someone in isolation like this, and makes the idea of doing it to someone who hasn't even had his day in court seem completely outrageous.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/12/manning-should-be-removed-from-solitary/68183/

[bemildred]

1. Hellhole

Human beings are social creatures. We are social not just in the trivial sense that we like company, and not just in the obvious sense that we each depend on others. We are social in a more elemental way: simply to exist as a normal human being requires interaction with other people.

Children provide the clearest demonstration of this fact, although it was slow to be accepted. Well into the nineteen-fifties, psychologists were encouraging parents to give children less attention and affection, in order to encourage independence. Then Harry Harlow, a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, produced a series of influential studies involving baby rhesus monkeys.

He happened upon the findings in the mid-fifties, when he decided to save money for his primate-research laboratory by breeding his own lab monkeys instead of importing them from India. Because he didn’t know how to raise infant monkeys, he cared for them the way hospitals of the era cared for human infants—in nurseries, with plenty of food, warm blankets, some toys, and in isolation from other infants to prevent the spread of infection. The monkeys grew up sturdy, disease-free, and larger than those from the wild. Yet they were also profoundly disturbed, given to staring blankly and rocking in place for long periods, circling their cages repetitively, and mutilating themselves.

At first, Harlow and his graduate students couldn’t figure out what the problem was. They considered factors such as diet, patterns of light exposure, even the antibiotics they used. Then, as Deborah Blum recounts in a fascinating biography of Harlow, “Love at Goon Park,” one of his researchers noticed how tightly the monkeys clung to their soft blankets. Harlow wondered whether what the monkeys were missing in their Isolettes was a mother. So, in an odd experiment, he gave them an artificial one.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande

[no_hypocrisy]

2. He should be charged and released on bail or just released, period.

[stray cat]

6. Not every person waiting for trial makes bail - is he special?

[fascisthunter]

3. nah... The US wants to torture him until he wrongfully implicates Assange

that's what torture is really for.... and yes, solitary confinement is torture.

[valerief]

4. +1

[emilyg]

14. +2

[PADemD]

16. +3

[Creative]

5. Actually, I believe the nature of his alleged offense calls for him to be

separated from other prisoners.

They do it that way in an effort to limit the dissemination of classified information.

[stray cat]

7. but most DUers don't see release of classified secret documents a crime

but an act of herorism as long as it isn't done by the GOP

[bemildred]

8. Well, FWIW, my concern is more about due process.

When he has been given a fair trial and convicted by a jury of his peers, I am OK with appropriate punishment as the law provides.

And the other issue that concerns me is reform of our expensive and incompetent national security apparatus, which seems most unlikely to reform itself.

[Creative]

13. I have noticed that there is quite a bit of support here for Assange and Manning.

In my view, these people fail to recognize the consequences that may occur as a result of the undermining of the confidence of those who work in the arena of intelligence and counter-intelligence.

[verges]

10. Does that also mean

he should be denied all mental and physical stimulation? Let the guy have a book. Let the guy watch a movie. Let the guy do push-ups.

It sounds like he's being forced to just sit in a small cubicle for 23 hours a day and stare into nothingness. That is torture. There has been NO TRIAL!!

[Creative]

12. The nature of Pvt Manning's confinement is governed by the UCMJ, which is different

than the federal judicial system. Correspondingly, the interrogation process is handled differently than it would be under the civilian process. The objective is to debrief him and try to learn as much as possible about the what, the why and the who of this matter.

I don't think you realize how serious this is from the military's point of view. After all, one of their own members has betrayed them and quite possibly endangered some of their lives.

Nevertheless, I'm confident that this is being handled in a professional manner and although Pvt Manning may not be enjoying himself, he is in no danger of physical harm.

[verges]

15. Doesn't make it right.

and I don't share your confidence.

[jberryhill]

18. Nobody is involuntarily subjected to the jurisdiction of military law

The Army should send that birther colonel as a roommate.

[verges]

22. And even that would be

an improvement for PVT Manning. He currently has NO human contact at all. Since July.

[Creative]

19. What exactly, is "not right?"

[verges]

21. What's not right is...

that torture is wrong when it's applied by the Bush administration to suspected terrorists. Yet seems to be okay when appled by the military to domestic traitors. It's hypocrisy. Torture is wrong or it's not wrong.

I do believe he is guilty. And after the trial, he should be locked away and treated the same as John Walker, who was also active duty military. But, before a trial (and to a lesser degree after) humane treatment should be required.

[Historic NY]

9. Somehow he sunk himself .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/us-leaks-bradley-manning-logs

But segregation from population is the norm not the exception. He is in a military stockade.

[jberryhill]

11. Yes, he needs social contact with violent offenders, gang bangers...

...and whatever else one does to get sent to the Marine brig.

Ummm...

[PADemD]

17. He needs sunlight, sheets, and a chance to exercise.

[Karenina]

20. Would that this young man had had enough maturity

TO KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT!!! :cry: