Quote Originally Posted by Thorne View Post
Which, to my mind, does not justify those documents being classified. Which seems to be the way things happen anymore. If a politician does something wrong, or stupid, or embarrassing, it gets classified so that he or she won't have to face responsibility for it.
One of the classification levels is 'confidential', for exactly that sort of thing, and rightly so IMO: not "national security secrets", but "stuff that shouldn't be public": troops' personal details, notes about other people. Some of the 'embarrassing' bits to come out involved assessments of other countries' politicians: this one being a drunk, that one being a bit unstable but not likely to get very far... Leaking that stuff didn't really help anyone.

I'm not all that familiar with the kinds of things Manning revealed, but exposing documents which show that, for example, some high ranking official ordered an illegal drone strike on a non-military target resulting in civilian casualties, I wouldn't consider revealing those documents to be treason. The person who authorized the strike, then tried to cover it up, is the one who has committed treason, in that he involved his country in an illegal act. THAT person should be held accountable, not the person who revealed his actions.
I think the nearest anyone's found in the vast pile he dumped was a video of a helicopter shooting at some people who may or may not have been pointing rocket launchers at them at the time, plus reports about some Iraqis mistreating other Iraqis. Treason ... no (as the court martial ruled), because what he leaked wasn't really very useful to anyone - just illegal, stupid and a breach of his orders. Treason, by the way, is not about involving the country in an illegal act, but aiding the country's enemy.