Noam Chomsky: On Bradley Manning

"Bradley Manning is a particularly ugly case. He's been detained without charges for about nine months, he was basically being tortured - that's what it means to be in solitary confinement with pretty ugly treatment. That's the kind of thing we complain about bitterly when it happens in Iran or China and so on. It's happening right here - no charges. He isn't being brought to a civilian court... he's being severely punished, in fact tortured, for claims that even if they were established should be a reason for respect not criminal charges."

From video interview with Noam Chomsky on CaTV.
Interview conducted December 2011, but posted last week.

Today the US Army announced a date has been set for Bradley Manning's arraignment, Thursday February 23rd.
This will set the dates for hearings on pre-trial motions, and the start of the full court-martial.
The court-martial is expected to start in May.

“Bradley Manning’s show trial will begin in earnest with this arraignment. If the Obama administration was the least bit concerned with providing a fair trial, they would have allowed the defense to explore critical issues, such as unlawful command influence, over-classification, and the torturous conditions to which PFC Manning has been subjected while in their custody. If they were concerned about justice, they would drop the charges against Bradley Manning and prosecute those whose crimes have been revealed.”

Jeff Brazer, Bradley Manning Support Network.

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