Yesterday the Pentagon surprised everybody – including Bradley Manning’s lawyer – with news that the accused Wikileaks whistleblower will be moved from the Quantico brig in Virginia to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Pentagon’s lawyer, Jeh Johnson, announced Manning’s transfer in a snap press conference (video embedded) that revealed the government’s strategy: take Manning to a place “not in the Washington[, DC] area” where he will “likely be in pre-trial confinement for a while.”

Besides conditions of solitary confinement, harassment day and night, restriction of reading material, making him walk in shackles if he leaves his cell, inability to communicate with any other prisoners, all imposed upon PFC Bradley Manning, who has never been convicted of any crime, we must now add the degradation and humiliation of hours-long forced nakedness

The government is alleging Manning “knowingly gave intelligence information” and that WikiLeaks “received” it. Does that make”WikiLeaks” the “enemy” in question?

The Department of Defense is holding a press conference to announce new charges against Bradley Manning. Now that the government’s case against Julian Assange is falling apart, the Pentagon is ratcheting up the pressure on Manning.

The government alleged nothing regarding “aiding and abetting the enemy” when they originally charged Manning in July of 2010. Surely they must have new and compelling evidence to substantiate such serious charges. If not, they’re just bringing the full force of the state down on Manning’s head because he would not give them a false confession against Julian Assange they needed to make their case.

Bradley Manning’s friend David House was initially quite concerned about Manning’s state of mind, and felt he was beginning to exhibit some of the damaging symptoms of prolonged isolation including emotional withdrawal and impaired cognitive function. Bradley seemed slow to respond when they spoke, and could not process information as quickly as he normally did. Bradley became excited and engaged, however, when David mentioned the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Last night’s DoD press conference on Bradley Manning was a bizarre affair. Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell was snappish, hectoring and ill-prepared. They were clearly thrown when Jim Miklaszewski reported that the Quantico brig commander acted inappropriately in putting Manning on suicide watch, and the journalists present greeted Morrell’s excuses with extreme skepticism.

As Marcy Wheeler noted earlier, “It’s clear…that DOD’s press shop is struggling to craft a party line about Manning’s treatment that both appears coherent and that somehow refutes Miklaszewski’s reporting.”

So what does a flailing press operation do when they can’t kill the public momentum building for an investigation? Why put out an anonymous hit piece on Bradley Manning to act as a wet blanket, of course.

The Marines have replaced the commander in charge of the Quantico base, where Bradley Manning has been held in severe isolation for more than seven months. Commander James Averhart, as commander of the Quantico base, had authority over the conditions of Manning’s detention. Last week Averhart punished Bradley Manning, ignoring the advice of military psychiatrists, by putting him on suicide watch for 48 hours.

Bradley Manning released a statement today through his attorney, David Coombs, in order to thank those who have taken action to help him.

Sign the letter to the Commanding Officer of Bradley Manning’s brig urging for Bradley’s unnecessary POI order to be lifted