Liam Conner
Major Harrison Mann, a Jewish American working for the Defense Intelligence Agency, resigned from the US Army, citing the United States’ “nearly unlimited support for the government of Israel”, which he claims has “enabled and strengthened the killing and the hunger”. of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians.”
Mann, a 13-year U.S. Army veteran who worked in the Middle East bureau, spoke with CBS News senior national correspondent Jim Axelrod for his first television interview since resigning from his position. Mann submitted his resignation in November, and his separation from military service took effect Monday.
More than six U.S. government officials have publicly resigned in protest over U.S. support for Israel’s war, but Mann is the first from the military and intelligence community.
“I understand that people are angry that I chose to talk about this, but I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice,” Mann told Axelrod.
A Defense Intelligence Agency official confirmed to CBS News that Mann was assigned to the agency. “Employee layoffs are a routine occurrence at DIA, as with other employers, and employees resign from their positions for a variety of reasons and motivations,” the employee said.
CBS News
Mann told “CBS Mornings” that U.S. weapons enabled Israel’s operations in Gaza, suggesting that Israel has been indiscriminately targeting Palestinian civilians since it began responding to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and continued capture of Jewish hostages.
“I don’t know how you kill 35,000 civilians by accident,” Mann said.
The grandson of Jews who fled anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe, Mann said he does not agree that the cry of “never again” that galvanized Jews after the Holocaust justifies Israel’s current response.
“They are not responding in a way that is productive for the security of the State of Israel or of Jews around the world,” Mann said. “I’m confident in saying it’s certainly an ethnic cleansing measure. I don’t think it’s in the spirit of ‘never again’.”
“If you are someone who is truly motivated by a concern to protect Jewish life,” Mann said, “you should fight for [Israel] end the war, conduct it in a way that doesn’t basically turn the entire world against them. This is not good for Israel’s security in the short or long term.”
CBS News
Mann decided to make his resignation public after the Biden administration released an assessment in May that found cases in which Israel’s conduct was inconsistent with “international humanitarian law,” but the administration concluded that U.S. aid would not be stopped.
“I was struck by the weakness of this justification,” says Mann.
The Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health estimated that Israel’s ground and air operations in Gaza killed more than 36,000 people, although this number has not been independently confirmed. The United Nations is working to confirm the victims. The IDF said around 15,000 Hamas militants were killed in Gaza.
Sheena Samu contributed to this report
Jim Axelrod
gshow ao vivo
email uol pro
melhor conteudo
mãe png
cadena 3
tudo sobre
absol
