Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of causing the biggest security breach in American history, finally broke his silence yesterday as he gave evidence at a pre-trial hearing, saying he felt like a doomed, caged animal after he was arrested for allegedly divulging secretes to the WikiLeaks website.
Speaking in court after 917 days in military captivity, Private Manning, who was arrested in Iraq, made the analogy in a reference to his detention in a cell in a segregation tent at a US Army outpost in Kuwait. He was later transferred to a base in Virginia.
"I remember thinking, "I'm going to die. I'm stuck inside this cage'," he said when questioned by defence attorney David Coombs. Employing dramatic language, he shared the distress he suffered after being locked up his former colleagues. "I just thought I was going to die in that cage. And that's how I saw it - an animal cage."
Comment: "Employing dramatic language"? The poor lad is probably struggling to find the words to describe his abominable treatment at the hands of the world's largest banana republic.
Comment: Regarding the "targeting of journalists", let's be clear about who is doing the targeting:
Marie Colvin: Is a false narrative being created to justify an attack on Syria?
British Channel 4 journalist Alex Thomson: The Syrian 'rebels' set me up to be shot at by Syrian military