The Army is watching. A politico.com article reports that the Army is monitoring social media coverage of the Bradley Manning trial using a commercial service called VOCUS. Big thanks to Lt. Dan Choi who’s activism inspired “118 print and online stories; and 67 social network conversations in reference to the incident”. The entire Army assessment is linked at the bottom of the article. (read more)

Quantico is finally being dismantled. The detention facility hit the media spotlight when we learned about the brutal treatment of Bradley Manning. It is now being closed. The article reports that “officials have stressed that the facility’s closure is not related to Manning’s incarceration there.” (read more)

Yes, military trials are scripted. Some were shocked to learn that all military courtroom proceedings are scripted, and “the script was generally adhered to”. (read more)

Speak truth to power. This is the message shared by Daniel Ellsberg, the famous whistle-blower, who has been speaking up for Bradley Manning and who is Truthdigg.com’s “truthdigger of the week”. Ellsberg shares his inspirations for supporting Bradley, one of which is that they both had to courage to expose government lies and brutal crimes of war to the public, and both were charged with violating the Espionage act. Until Ellsberg’s release of the Pentagon papers, no American had been charged under the Espionage act for leaking news to the press. Ellsberg argues that the proceedings against Manning should never have made it this far, and he points to a number of issues that have tainted hope for justice. 1) the issue of undue command influence, 2) wrongful treatment of Bradley Manning since he has been detained. (read more)

More on undue command influence, and on soldiers rights -

1. Undue Command Influence -

What exactly is it? General Peter Pace explains the issue of influence in the military
command structure,

“It’s important to know that as investigations are completed, they come up the chain of command in a very systematic way. So that the individual who reports in writing, it goes up to the next level commander. He or she takes time, a week or two weeks, three weeks, whatever it takes, to read all the documentation, get legal advice from his or her attorneys, make the decisions that are appropriate at his or her level, and then forward that investigation on to the next level.

“The reason it is done sequentially like that is so that each commander, without any undue influence from above, has the opportunity at their level to review the entire document, decide what he or she should do at their level, make their decisions, and then forward it up the chain of command. And that way everyone’s rights are protected …”(link)

With the highest military commander, President Obama, having declared Bradley guilty, it is understandable that so many in the military stay silent about Bradley’s detention, and why once detained, that Bradley’s treatment has been so brutal. To support Bradley Manning in America’s military is to support a known traitor. One only has to read the comments section of articles dealing with Bradley Manning, to see how some members of the military can so quickly damn a fellow soldier who had never seen a courtroom let alone been found guilty. The attacks on Bradley’s honor by his fellow soldiers show how powerful the influence of military command can be.

2. Brutal treatment: 10.5 months in solitary confinement, humiliation.

If only verbal attacks on Bradley’s character were the end of it. The reality is much worse. Once confined to prison, soldiers responsible for his care took it upon themselves to punish and abuse Bradley Manning. While soldiers have limited rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), soldiers are still promised fair treatment and a fair trial. Under article 13 of the UCMJ, soldiers are assured that,

“No person, while being held for trial, may be subjected to punishment or penalty other than arrest or confinement upon the charges pending against him, nor shall the arrest or confinement imposed upon him be any more rigorous than the circumstances required to insure his presence, but he may be subjected to minor punishment during that period for infractions of discipline.” (link)

If the soldier is mistreated, say by being kept in solitary confinement for extremely long periods of time, and say the soldier was forced to strip naked, not for safety but rather with the specific intent of punishing him, then,

“If a military judge determines that a servicemember has been illegally punished prior to trial, she has substantial discretion to grant administrative credit, usually in the form of additional pretrial confinement credit, or even grant an outright dismissal of the charges.” (link)

An article 13 defense is not made at the article 32 ‘pre-trial’ hearing. It can only be made once the case has been referred to court martial – so we have yet to determine in court how wrongly Bradley Manning has been treated, and how that wrongful treatment will impact the case. It is possible that the charges will be dismissed due to abusive acts performed by the soldiers responsible for Bradley’s care.