President Barack Obama can’t take jokes, that’s for sure. When his former Commander of the International Security Assistant Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal was forced to resigned after disrespectful comments on Veepee Joe Biden and the Administration in Washington in general in an interview with the Rolling Stone last year he had probably got it right as regards the situation in Afghanistan.

Today, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley was fired (or rather “abruptly resigned” under pressure from White House officials “over controversial comments he made about the Bradley Manning case”) upon an unmindful response to a specific questions about the scandalous treatment of whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning who is right now in custody at the Marine Corps Brig in Quantico, Virginia for 10 months. His detention in 23-hour solitary confinement has recently reportedly been aggravated by prolonged forced nudity. Manning has probably leaked to WikiLeak’s Julian Assange, inter alia, footage of the notorious Bagdhad airstrike of July 2007 (published as the “Collateral Murder” video of April 2010), the Granai airstrike in Afghanistan of May 2009 (so far unpublished) and the more than 250,000 diplomatic cables of November 2010.

Kudos to Glenn Greenwald who made public that last Thursday Crowley was asked by a young man (reportedly Charlie deTar) in front of a small audience at MIT about WikiLeaks and the torturing of Bradley Manning in the military brig. Crowley reportedly responded,

“I spent 26 years in the air force. What is happening to Manning is ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid, and I don’t know why the DoD (Department of Defense) is doing it.” (Emphasis added.)

When asked on Friday at a press conference by Jake Tapper of ABC News about the incidence (specifically, whether Obama would agree with Crowley’s assessment that what is happening with Manning is ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid), President Obama replied,

“With respect to Private Manning, 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. They assure 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.”

How can Manning after all be safe in a military brig?

Last modified March 14, 2011.