Officers of the United States Government should be on trial -- not PFC Bradley Manning.

[Maedhros]

111. There is some precedent for that belief

i.e. Ellsberg.

Again, its telling that Manning's relatively minor crime elicits such a hue and cry for accountability and retribution from (purported) liberals, but the far more serious bad acts of the government that the leaks uncovered provokes a disinterested "meh."

To my mind: sure, Manning may have broken military law by releasing classified (not secret) information. But the information that was revealed provides a very useful and important means of holding our government accountable for the bad acts it commits. That ability to impose accountability outweighs the harm done by Manning.

It's somewhat similar to the outcry against the Occupy movement. The value of the Movement in bringing the issue of wealth disparity to the national stage far outweighed the "crime" of Occupying a public park without a permit.