Dennis Kucinich Given Run-Around After Requesting to Visit Bradley Manning in Prison

As a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Dennis Kucinich has been wanting to visit WikiLeaks whistle-blower Bradley Manning in prison to look into reports of Manning being routinely tortured and humiliated at the Virginia facility. But after putting in an official request to visit Manning, Kucinich is being treated to a heaping helping of governmental red-tape.

Here's what Kucinich told LA radio host Scott Horton late last week (h/t Raw Story):

HORTON: I know that you’ve been trying to meet with Bradley Manning, get permission to meet with him in the brig for as long as a month now, and you’ve as yet been unsuccessful in having a chance to visit him in military custody. Is that right?

KUCINICH: That’s right. I put in a request to the secretary of defense, who referred me to the secretary of the army, who referred me to the secretary of the navy, who referred me to the secretary of defense, and still not an answer on whether or not I can visit Private Manning.

HORTON: Unbelievable. I could see them giving the runaround like that to a reporter or something, but you’re a congressman. They can’t treat you that way, can they?

KUCINICH: Actually they shouldn’t treat reporters that way, but – they shouldn’t treat anyone that way. They should be accountable. But unfortunately, for whatever reason, the Pentagon doesn’t have any accountability.

They shouldn't treat reporters or politicians -- or anyone -- that way, but they are. In January, we reported that MIT researcher and friend-of-Manning David House and FireDogLake publisher Jane Hamsher were detained at Quantico after trying to visit Manning and deliver a 42,000 signature petition demanding an end to the inhumane conditions of his arrest.

As for Manning, the WikiLeaks leaker is continuing to face horrible conditions in prison. Earlier this month, Manning's lawyer, David E. Coombs, noted on his blog that Manning had all his clothing taken from him for an evening and was forced to stand naked and humiliated in front of his jail cell. And that wasn't the first time such a thing had happened to Manning -- not by a long shot.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson PJ Crowley has resigned under pressure from his superiors for calling the treatment of Manning "counterproductive and stupid."

So the question remains: how much longer will the U.S. government torture and humiliate a man who has been convicted of no crime? And how much longer will the Feds punish individuals who speak out against Manning's treatment?