Chelsea Manning

I am female. My name is Chelsea. I am a woman.

I was a ghost in the machine.

I want everyone to see the truth… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.

I am not a piece of hardware.

I am not a pacifist. I am a violent person.

I was in a privileged position, to be quite frank, to have access to all of this information. And I took it for granted, and I didn't question it. And then, at some point, I realized that I couldn't just sit on this information.

I felt that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information, that it would spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general.

I also felt that given the political climate in the United States, that this information would not be released in any other way.

I had a moral obligation to the people. I believed that if I didn't do something, it would become worse.

I took the documents and I released them to the public because I felt that it was important for the public to know what was going on.

I’m not a traitor. I’m not a spy. I’m a whistleblower.

I want people to understand that there are consequences to our actions and that we need to be held accountable for them.

I’m not interested in being a martyr. I’m interested in changing things.

I believe that information should be free. I believe that governments should be transparent.

The government is not some opaque, monolithic entity. It's people. And people make mistakes.

I thought that by releasing this information, it would make a difference. And I still believe that.

I'm not going to cooperate with a system that I believe is unjust.

I would rather starve than compromise my principles.

My conscience is clear. I did what I believed was right.

I don't regret anything I've done. I stand by my actions.