Army officer resigns due to US support for Israel’s war in Gaza
Al Jazeera
‘Shame and guilt’ drove Major Harrison Mann to quit in November, but he was ‘afraid’ of expressing it earlier.
A former officer of the United States Army has explained that his resignation several months ago was prompted by his country’s “unqualified support” for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Major Harrison Mann expressed “incredible shame and guilt” in a letter posted on LinkedIn on Monday. He resigned from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in November.
Several other US military personnel have quit since the war in Gaza was sparked by an attack on southern Israel by Hamas in October. That operation saw about 1,139 people killed in Israel and about 240 taken captive.
Israel’s seven-month-long war has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, with most of the enclave’s 2.3-million-strong population displaced and short of food and medicine. The US continues to provide weapons and intelligence support to Israel.
Most of those who quit the US military have publicly deplored Washington’s role at the time, rather than waiting months to explain their departure. US airman Aaron Bushnell died after setting himself on fire in protest outside Israel’s embassy in Washington, DC in February.
