By Debra Sweet

>> More about Daniel's case & what you can do to support him.

Military.com reports on a letter from Daniel on why he chose to leak details of the secret drone program:

He said when he deployed to Afghanistan in 2012, his job was to track down cellphone signals linked to people believed to be enemy combatants.

"Not a day goes by that I don't question the justification for my actions," Hale wrote.

His guilt is compounded by the clinical nature of the drone strike program, in which Afghan targets are killed going about their daily lives - at times with innocent civilians killed as collateral damage - rather than on a traditional battlefield.

"The victorious rifleman, unquestionably remorseful, at least keeps his honor intact by having faced off against his enemy in the battlefield," Hale wrote. "But what possibly could I have done to cope with the undeniable cruelties that I perpetrated?"

As a result, he said, his conscience compelled him to disclose details about the program to an investigative reporter he had previously met. The documents showed, among other things, that the drone program was not as precise as the government claimed in terms of avoiding civilian deaths.

On July 17 opponents of US use of weaponized & surveillance drones gathered in NYC to demand the release of Daniel for time served. More at BanKillerDrones.org

Watch this video of Debra speaking at the press conference.