I agree with Anonymous about this... Do you?

[jeff47]

37. And that wasn't new.

Again, "collateral murder" showed exactly what the official report said happened.

And, thanks to Private Manning, the U.S. government has no recourse but to admit that is exactly the kind of thing they have done

Except the US government already said it happened before the video was leaked. And the video showed that the official report wasn't hiding anything.

Any investigation of that incident now ongoing is because Manning's courage made it impossible for the Army not to investigate.

Except the army had already investigated the incident and released a public report before Manning leaked anything.

Why do you think they haven't investigated other such butchery, or do you really believe nothing like this ever happened before?

Here's the thing: People die in wars. Those innocent people included someone who was armed, and someone who was holding a large TV camera which was mistaken for a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon. That miss-identification happens a lot, because they look similar.

So yes, they got killed over one AK-47 and a TV camera. But that, in and of itself, isn't a scandal. The fact that incidents like this are what just happens in war is the fucking reason to oppose war!

Would you rather he had made public documents which really are "Top Secret" and need to be kept so for the good of our national defense?

Manning only had a SECRET clearance. He didn't have access to any TOP SECRET information to leak. There was no discretion on Manning's part. In fact, he leaked everything he could get a hold of.