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7/27/2019 Letter From Chelsea Manning
1/1
August2013 FromChelseaManningtoPresidentBarackObama
ChelseaManningisformerlyBradleyManning.
ThedecisionsthatImadein2010weremadeoutofaconcernformycountryandthe
worldthatwe live in.Sincethetragiceventsof9/11,ourcountryhasbeenatwar.
We'vebeenatwarwithanenemy thatchoosesnot tomeetusonany traditional
battlefield,andduetothisfactwe'vehadtoalterourmethodsofcombatingtherisks
posedto
us
and
our
way
of
life.
I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my
country.ItwasnotuntilIwasinIraqandreadingsecretmilitaryreportsonadailybasis
that Istartedtoquestionthemoralityofwhatweweredoing. Itwasatthistime I
realized that (in)ourefforts tomeet the riskposed tousby theenemy,wehave
forgottenourhumanity.Weconsciouslyelectedtodevaluehuman lifeboth in Iraq
andAfghanistan.Whenweengaged those thatweperceivedwere theenemy,we
sometimeskilledinnocentcivilians.Wheneverwekilledinnocentcivilians,insteadof
acceptingresponsibility
for
our
conduct,
we
elected
to
hide
behind
the
veil
of
national
securityandclassifiedinformationinordertoavoidanypublicaccountability.
Inourzealtokilltheenemy,weinternallydebatedthedefinitionoftorture.Weheld
individualsatGuantanamoforyearswithoutdueprocess.We inexplicablyturneda
blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government.Andwe stomached
countlessotheractsinthenameofourwaronterror.
Patriotismisoftenthecryextolledwhenmorallyquestionableactsareadvocatedby
those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown out any logically based
dissension,it
is
usually
the
American
soldier
that
is
given
the
order
to
carry
out
some
illconceivedmission.
Ournationhashadsimilardarkmomentsforthevirtuesofdemocracy theTrailof
Tears,theDredScottdecision,McCarthyism,andtheJapaneseAmericaninternment
camps tomentionafew.Iamconfidentthatmanyoftheactionssince9/11willone
daybeviewedinasimilarlight.
AsthelateHowardZinnoncesaid,"Thereisnotaflaglargeenoughtocovertheshame
ofkillinginnocentpeople."
Iunderstandthatmyactionsviolatedthe law; Iregretifmyactionshurtanyoneor
harmedtheUnitedStates.Itwasnevermyintenttohurtanyone.Ionlywantedtohelp
people.WhenIchosetodiscloseclassifiedinformation,Ididsooutofaloveformy
countryandasenseofdutytoothers.
Ifyoudenymyrequestforapardon,Iwillservemytimeknowingthatsometimesyou
havetopayaheavypricetoliveinafreesociety.Iwillgladlypaythatpriceifitmeans
we could have a country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the
propositionthatallwomenandmenarecreatedequal.