Bradley Manning?

Bradley Manning is a puzzle.  To me – anyway.  For a PFC he was a gigantic creature  He knew a lot of information and he had access to an enormous amount of classified stuff.  I can’t help but wonder how a PFC had that kind of access to anything.  I used to have access to a lot of classified information myself, but I never knew anything close to the whole story.  In fact I only knew kind of important little glimpses.  Very few people, as I  recall only one or two, actually had enough access to know anything like a “big picture”.  And those people were of pretty high rank.  So, I can’t help but wonder 1) how a PFC would have access to anything like a portion of the data he apparently released to WikiLeaks, and 2) what the hell were his supervisors doing, and 3) what the hell were his supervisor's supervisors doing? 

Did Bradley Manning do the nation a disservice by releasing that data?  Actually he may have done a great SERVICE to us by pointing out how much classified information seems to be laying around unprotected.  Apparently he just released stuff that was really more embarrassing than anything else, the kind of goodies that eventually seep out anyway, and which all the people who are identified therein, and supposedly were embarrassed about in those leaks, all pretty well knew about  anyway.

But Manning was apparently just after the petty stuff.  If our classified information is really this poorly guarded then there may be some really important things out there that the wrong kind of people might get hold of and that could be really bad.

Also, maybe we could create some new levels of classified information.  Then we could have “Confidential”, “Secret”, “Top Secret” and “Embarrassing”.  That way we wouldn’t have titillating tidbits of gossip mixed in with the number of troops we have in a certain location, their firepower and problems they might facing, and you know – important stuff. 

Meanwhile, how we are treating Bradley Manning in prison may be saying a lot more about who we really are as a nation than what he leaked about us says about him.

And then there is the question that we never ask in this country anymore:  "Why"?  Why did he do it?  Why?