A former US military intelligence officer published a letter on Monday in which he told colleagues that his resignation in November was actually due to “moral injury” from US aid to Israel’s war on Gaza and the harm it has done to the Palestinians.
Major-ranking Army officer Harrison Mann is the first US military intelligence officer to resign over US aid to Israel. A member of the US Air Force died in February after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington as a protest against the war in Gaza, and other members of the military expressed their protest.
Mann said that fear prevented him for a few months from revealing his reasons for resigning.
“I was afraid. I was afraid that our professional standards would be violated. I was afraid from officers that I respect. I was afraid that you would feel betrayed. I am sure that some of you will feel that way when I read this, “Mann wrote in a letter that he shared with his colleagues last month and that he published on Monday on the account His LinkedIn.
A Defense Intelligence Agency official confirmed to Reuters that Mann worked for the agency.
The official said, without going into details, “The resignation of an employee is a normal issue in the organization, as is the case with other employers, and employees leave of them in office for various reasons and purposes.”
Mann’s case is different from that of other US government officials, including many State Department officials who expressed regret about US policy when they resigned and did not stay. months before they gave reasons for their departure.
Mann said he felt ashamed and guilty because he helped implement American policy, which he said contributed to the mass killing of Palestinians.
“At some point, regardless of the justification, you either implement a policy that leads to child starvation, or you don’t,” Mann wrote.
Israel is launching a military campaign against Gaza in response to an attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, which, according to Israel, resulted in the killing of around 1,200 people and more than 250 host to Gaza.
More than 35,000 Palestinians were killed and 78,827 others were wounded in the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in the Street. Concern has increased as Israel is not allowing humanitarian aid to enter Gaza amid growing American and international warnings about the risk of famine.
The death toll sparked a surge in pro-Palestinian protests that spread to universities across the United States.
President Joe Biden, a staunch supporter of Israel, decided to stop sending an arms package to it, in a major policy move that became public last week, and said the his administration that the United States was reconsidering other packages.
The Biden administration said on Friday that Israel’s use of US-supplied weapons may have violated international humanitarian law in its military operation in Gaza, in the strongest US criticism yet of Israel.
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2024-05-13 23:16:15
