The U.S. State Dept. top spokesman P.J. Crowley resigned on Sunday, nearly three days after publicly chastising the Pentagon for its treatment of Bradley Manning - the U.S. soldier detained on allegations of passing thousands of confidential State Dept. cables to WikiLeaks.
Crowley called the treatment of Manning "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid," after reports that military jailers forced him to sleep naked for several days last week.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement Sunday that she accepted Crowley's resignation "with regret" and lauded his three decades of government service.

In his statement of resignation, Crowley said that his comments about Bradley's pre-trial detention "were intended to highlight the broader, even strategic impact of discreet actions undertaken by national security agencies every day and their impact on our global standing and leadership. The exercise of power in today's challenging times and relentless media environment must be prudent and consistent with our laws and values."

Although he took "full responsibility" for his remarks, Crowley did not apologize for them in his statement.