Numan and Ezekiel, you are both right.
As for the selection of what information should or should not be released, there needs to be a little stepping back to reality. The most egregious and pertinent first published were the matters released by Wikileaks to news organizations such as the Guardian and New York Times. There are possibly 10 times more items to be released, and all have not yet been reviewed by Wikileaks. Hundreds of thousands of documents or files were allegedly given by Manning to Wikileaks.
This release was nearly identical to what happened with the Pentagon Papers. The press there had, as press does today, First Amendment privilege to publish that which they did not obtain illegally. Receiving documents from another is not, of itself, illegal. Wikileaks, the New York Times, and the Guardian, did nothing illegal to get their hands on the documents.
Did Manning take the documents, as alleged, because of revenge? Was Manning mistreated by the military? Well, maybe. Likely. Probably. However, he also knew going in that there was Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and that he'd be subject to whatever ethos exists in a macho, manly, warrior culture. He knew that being gay in the military was not going to be easy. He knew that he'd face discrimination, and if he didn't, then he should have know, because for decades the policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell was brought in because of discrimination, and was halted because it was unworkable. He'd know all this by watching a few movies or reading a few books. Heck, the whole culture is portrayed constantly on the TeeVee Machine.
No one connected with the case has set forth that Manning acting as a whistle blower was at all related to any discriminatory activity regarding his sexual preferences. No credible journalists have claimed his actions were related to his homosexuality. Yet, no matter what, his sexual orientation was not an apparent element of his alleged taking of documents and disclosing them, as far as can be determined from credible press accounts.
He allegedly copied huge swaths of documents, not reviewing them during the downloading process. There were hundreds of thousands of documents allegedly sent to Wikileaks, and no one is that much of a speed reader. The news organizations that did publish documents allegedly coming from Manning, didn't have time with teams of reviewers, to vet every document and therefore published only those they reviewed.
Are there more videos showing the controllers at a distant location using weapons to cut down unarmed civilians, sounding much like excited participants in a video game? Are there documentations of torture, enhanced interrogations, or other despicable acts, all of which deserve to be brought to the light of day. War crimes and misdeeds should not be hidden behind a classification of secrecy, but should be investigated to ensure the illegality doesn't repeat. At the same time, we know the government does overclassify, because it's more convenient, or is a good way to hide misdeeds that could turn the populace against various government deeds.
The American people though know little of this. They get their news from about 6 corporations, and because they don't know what they don't know, won't be looking for what they don't know they are missing. Control of the press is a hallmark of controlled societies.
Are Americans culpable in the evils which were revealed in the Wikileaks matters? Indirectly, yes. The press have done little investigating, don't delve into stories, don't expose wrongdoing, and don't report anything that can be called news any longer. News, like education, has been dumbed down into infotainment.
Are Americans as culpable as the Germans who didn't seem to want to know what the Nazi's were doing? Only to the extent that Americans don't know what they don't know, and therefore don't look for what they don't know is there to be learned. All of this War on 'Terra' is being done in our name, right deeds and wrong, but with a controlled media, constantly on he alert to never rock any big boat, we are as culpable as the Germans. All of this killing, imprisoning, torture and collateral damage is done in our name, and yet if we raise our voices, were are likely to have our own life disrupted for making the statement.
