Bradley Manning Was Naked When He Joined The Army

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Matt Osborne
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Like Bradley Manning, I have processed through a MEPS center and been inducted into the US Army. I had to get naked in the basement so a doctor could examine me for anything out of the ordinary. Was Bradley Manning being “tortured” then? Like Manning, I also went through Basic Training where I showered with lots of other naked men. Were we being tortured? We thought so at the time, but mostly because we were constantly being harassed into exercise by drill sergeants. Many of us had already been naked-showering with other guys since Junior High P.E.

Manning has allegedly been “tortured” by not being allowed exercise, but this charge turned out to be untrue as well. All of these charges have come through his attorney, David Coombs, and been amplified by the growing Greenwald-Hamsher chorus. The latest outrage: Bradley Manning is required to strip naked each night, which is exactly like waterboarding him. See how that works?

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About Matt Osborne

Veteran blogging the culture wars from Alabama. Video journalist, mash-up artist, aspiring novelist, and metalhead. Expect bunnies, geekery, dark humor, and snarky empirical analysis to annoy idealists of all stripes. You can follow me on Twitter, but be ready 'cause it might get loud.
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  • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com IrishGrrrl

    Matt, I always respect your opinion and love to read your blog. However, there is a big difference when someone has volunteered to be in the military versus when one is prisoner in a high security military facility against their will. Yes, being a prisoner is demeaning in and of itself and no prisoner, regardless of their classification, has the right to refuse searches or inspections of any kind. All that being said, it is not common at all to have a prisoner inspected every night before he goes to bed in the hall and in front of a bunch of people and to have someone of the opposite gender there as well. It’s humiliating and not typical and I’m sure the guards know it. However, I’m not sure it rises to the level of torture.

  • http://extremeliberal.wordpress.com/ Extreme Liberal

    Thanks for your sanity, Matt. The lies being told by Hamsher and Greenwald are getting ridiculous. But I guess if they told the truth, they wouldn’t get as many clicks now would they? I want to know how being asked to strip naked for inspection in the brig is torture. Under the same reasoning, simply locking someone up is torture. He said he was so embarrassed by it. I wonder if he’s embarrassed about endangering the lives of his fellow service members and being a traitor to them? I wonder?

  • http://www.osborneink.com OsborneInk

    “it is not common at all to have a prisoner inspected every night before he goes to bed in the hall and in front of a bunch of people and to have someone of the opposite gender there as well”

    Assumes facts not in evidence. And as far as the difference between MEPS nudity and prison nudity: Manning had a choice when he broke the law. He also had a choice to keep his trap shut or brag about it to strangers on the internet. Those choices are what put him where he is.

  • http://twitter.com/QueerjohnPA Queerjohn PA

    All heat – no light. I expected better here.

  • http://www.osborneink.com OsborneInk

    Thanks for your honesty, but this is a blog. Sometimes posts are short and off-the-cuff.

  • http://twitter.com/BumpItMcCarthy BumpIt McCarthy

    It’s rather shocking to me that Greenwald, who has written on behalf of victims of genuine torture, would demean both the term and them by diluting it like this. But he and Jane have exclusive and easy access to their prize cause celebre, and that changes the equation for Glenn, I suppose.