Daniel Hale, the whistleblower and former military intelligence analyst who leaked details of the US drone warfare program to the Intercept in 2014, was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison on Tuesday for violating the Espionage Act. In a backhanded acknowledgement of the significance of Hale’s revelations, US District Judge Liam O’Grady said that the 33-year-old’s disclosure of documents went beyond his “courageous and principled” opposition to the military’s deadly use of drones.
In his statement to the court prior to sentencing on Tuesday morning, Hale said, “With drone warfare, sometimes nine out of 10 people killed are innocent. You have to kill part of your conscience to do your job.”
With the sentencing of Hale, the Biden administration now joins that of Obama and Trump with the distinction of jailing someone with the honesty, courage and determination to stand up to the most powerful military apparatus in world history. Since 2010 there have been ten prosecutions of individuals under the Espionage Act for either leaking classified information to the media
— source wsws.org | 27 Jul 2021