US State Department spokesman resigns amid flap

PJ Crowley steps down after remarks about the Pentagon's treatment of a US soldier.

WASHINGTON:

US State Department spokesman P J Crowley is resigning his post, the department said on Sunday, after reports that Crowley had called the Pentagon's treatment of Bradley Manning, the alleged source of the WikiLeaks files, "counterproductive and stupid".

"It is with regret that I have accepted the resignation of Philip J Crowley as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

"Given the impact of my remarks, for which I take full responsibility, I have submitted my resignation as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Spokesman for the Department of State," Crowley said in the statement.

A BBC correspondent reported that Crowley told a small audience at a university in Massachusetts the treatment of jailed former intelligence analyst Bradley Manning "is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid."

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2011.