Sent today: Subject: Bradley Manning Date: July 26, 2013 1:32:39 PM EDT To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected], [email protected] Dear Maj. Gen. Buchanan and to whom it concerns, Pfc. Bradley Manning has been imprisoned for following his conscience. I believe his intention was at its core the finest of what makes the United States of America a land of freedom, of openness, fairness and democracy. Because not everyone adheres to these ideals, there is a tendency to want to hide from facing the revelations of misconduct, and, rather than see an opportunity to make corrections in policy or practice, to punish those that reveal misdeeds. What should not be overlooked at the same time that some horrific revelations came out was also the number of people working in our government who are doing a fair, honorable and decent job. The tendency to see scandal sometimes eclipses the great good people have tried to undertake within the Department of Defense and the State Department. We must protect those liberties that have marked this nation as one rooted in a bedrock of freedom that we have not always been able to live up to, but which we must strive ever to fulfill. Our world is facing extreme uncertainty, due to our human activities. Finding genuine solutions to those challenges that can sustain not only our species but thousands of others will be vital for us not to become extinct: waging a potentially illegal war on Iraq for oil in the face of global heating should strike one as being rather psychotic. By contrast, further punishment of this young man for retaining the courage of his convictions and the ideals that can make our nation and our world a better place serves no purpose but vindictiveness and pettiness. Worse, such a stubborn ideology maintains us on a trajectory that places humanity in profound jeopardy. I hope you will consider this letter with genuine effort to understand why I, like millions of others, view Pfc. Manning not as a traitor, but a hero to a nobler good. Yours very truly, George M. Carter Brooklyn, NY
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 20:58:59 +0000
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