<nettime> Darkness at Noon

[nettime's avid reader <nettime@kein.org>]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/175773/bradley-manning-offers-apology-wikileaks-and-others-respond

"First, your honor, I want to start off with an apology. I am sorry that 
my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States.

At the time of my decisions, as you know, I was dealing with a lot of 
issues, issues that are ongoing and continuing to affect me. Although a 
considerable difficulty in my life, these issues are not an excuse for 
my actions.

I understood what I was doing, and decisions I made. However, I did not 
fully appreciate the broader effects of my actions.

Those factors are clear to me now, through both self-refection during my 
confinement in various forms, and through the merits and sentencing 
testimony that I have seen here.

I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made 
these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people.

The last few years have been a learning experience. I look back at my 
decisions and wonder how on earth could I, a junior analyst, possibly 
believe I could change the world for the better (unintelligible) on 
decisions of those with the proper authority.

In retrospect, I should have worked more aggressively inside the system, 
as we discussed during the provenance statement. I had options, and I 
should have used these options.

Unfortunately, I can't go back and change things. I can only go forward. 
I want to go forward. Before I can do that, I understand that I must pay 
a price for my decisions and actions.

Once I pay that price, I hope to one day live in a manner that I haven't 
been able to in the past. I want to be a better person, to go to 
college, to get a degree and to have a meaningful relationship with my 
sister, with my sister's family and my family.

I want to be a positive influence in their lives, just as my Aunt Debra 
has been to me. I have flaws and issues that I have to deal with, but I 
know that I can and will be a better person.

I hope that you can give me the opportunity to prove, not through words, 
but through conduct, that I am a good person and that I can return to a 
productive place in society. Thank you, your honor."



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