Reply #125: I've said it before and I'll say it again

[NuclearDem]

Manning went about it the completely wrong way, his motives were dishonorable, and he had plenty of other avenues left to address his concerns before he went to the press, but the dump exposed war crimes going on inside Iraq, crimes that the US military was carrying out or letting the Iraqis carry out.

If getting public outrage about the secret Iraqi torture prisons we were establishing and allowing to operate has to be done through disclosing classified information, then so be it. The sooner those get shut down and fewer innocent Iraqis are subjected to them, the better. Just because you never had to deal with war crimes being concealed doesn't mean others don't. And when the trials against these war criminals start, every single person who authorized them, turned a blind eye to them, or refused to bring them to light because "it was their job to protect classified data" or "they had no right to steal classified information" will be tried and held accountable. Those are no longer excuses.