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part of the statement chelsea manning's lawyer read at her sentencing:
'patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power. when these cries of patriotism drown out any logically based dissension, is it usually the american soldier that is given the order to carry out some ill-conceived mission.
our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy - the trial of tears, the dred scott decision, mccarthyism, and the javanese-american internment camps - to mention a few. i am confident that many of the actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light.
...i understand that my actions violated the law. i regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the united states. it was never my intent to hurt anyone. i only wanted to help people. when i chose to disclose classified information, i did so out of a love for my country and a sense of duty to others.
if you deny my request for a pardon, i will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society. i will gladly pay that price if it means we could have a country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal' - chelsea manning
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