dust1n
Zindīq
He's definitely a criminal; I hesitate to use the word "traitor" specifically. I sure as hell wouldn't call the man a hero though. I don't see how the information he released helps anybody. He's the equivalent of that nerdy kid in school that snitches on other kids for smoking in the bathroom.
From the transcript I provided earlier:
Manning said:"I knew that if I continued to assist the Baghdad Federal Police in identifying the political opponents of Prime Minister al-Maliki, those people would be arrested and in the custody of the Special Unit of the Baghdad Federal Police and very likely tortured and not seen again for a very long time – if ever.
"Instead of assisting the Special Unit of the Baghdad Federal Police, I decided to take the information and expose it to the [WikiLeaks organization], in the hope that before the upcoming 7 March 2010 election, they could generate some immediate press on the issue and prevent this unit of the Federal Police from continuing to crack down in political opponents of al-Maliki.