State Dept. Spokesman P.J. Crowley Resigns
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P.J. Crowley courtesy of Creative Commons.
Crowley called the treatment of Manning "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid," after reports that military jailers forced him to sleep naked for several days last week.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement Sunday that she accepted Crowley's resignation "with regret" and lauded his three decades of government service.
In his statement of resignation, Crowley said that his comments about Bradley's pre-trial detention "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."
Although he took "full responsibility" for his remarks, Crowley did not apologize for them in his statement.
Crowley added that his comments "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."
President Barack Obama responded to Crowley's remarks in a statement of his own on Friday.
"With respect to Private Manning, you know, I have actually asked the Pentagon whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards," he said, according to USA Today. "They assured me that they are. I can't go into details about some of their concerns, but some of this has to do with Private Manning's safety as well."
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Comments
A sad day for America...
P. J. Crowley deserves an award. Whether Pvt. Bradley Manning is guilty of leaking classified documents to Wikileaks or not, his treatment in custody by the Department of Defense shames our government and shames the country. If the US has more persons in positions of authority or responsibility with the moral courage to stand up and object to injustice or to challenge dangerous and irresponsible policies, the country might have avoided the many unnecessary deaths of American soldiers as well as local civilians in the Iraq War.
In 2002, as a US senator with ambitions to run for the Presidency, Hillary Clinton voted to approve S.J. Res. 45, "A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq". Twenty-three other US Senators (including one independent and one Republican) voted against the resolution. That was another shameful day, for which many innocent people paid a terrible price. But not Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, nor any official of the Departments of State or Defense in 2002, any member of the George W. Bush cabinet or the National Security Council, many of whom must have realized the enormity of the disaster that the Iraq War would become, but none of whom ever spoke out.
P. J. Crowley, who criticized the vindictive abuse of Pvt Manning in custody as "counterproductive and stupid", has been forced to resign, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accepted his resignation. No surprise there.