Bradley Manning in my view has surpassed all previous similar crimes. Yes, he is a soldier, and therefore has deliberately chosen to do what he did. It's not a case of "he should have known better". He DID know he was committing treasonable crimes, and therefore did so in the full knowledge that not only has he endangered his country, but also potentially the whole world.
If just one of those 250,000 cables indicated US thinking on a particularly sensitive issue (eg "We're OK with the idea of South Korea invading the North" or "If Argentina reinvades the Falklands, we should not interfere on either side", then this alters the world, and affected governments may make choices they might otherwise have shied away from.
Additionally, Manning's disclosure of the plaintext of 250,000 signals that would have been transmitted over secure means has compromised those secure means.
He has caused inestimable damage, caused the DoD/State to incur huge cost, and is an utter disgrace to his uniform, and his country.
The weasel seems to find the spine to do the wrong thing, but not the right thing. For instance, he found the guts to punch a female officer in the face, but had difficulty with being kept in the brig in Quantico.
The man disgusts me. If he cannot be tried for treason, and face the death penalty, then he should be separately charged with disclosure of each of the 250,000 signals. Sentences to run consecutively. It doesn't really matter if it takes 6 months to read out the charges in court, or gets just a day in jail for each of his 250,000 crimes.
He hasn't just crossed the line, he's 15 miles over it, and stuck two fingers up all the way. Time for justice to be done.
Assange is another worthless turd. So Manning stole the info, and Assange decides to publish it for his own self-aggrandisement purposes. If Manning had simply given the info the Russians, he would have been a straightforward traitor, and probably dealt with accordingly. But no, Assange lets the whole world see it. So it's not just one country with the info, it's every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Secrets are secret for a reason. Someone I know tried it on with with my buddy's wife, and it wasn't exactly a hostile approach. My buddy disturbed them in the early stages before it got out of hand. I know he (the cad) did this, but he doesn't know I know. My buddy wants me to imagine it hadn't happened, for he is hoping time will heal his marriage, and it never needs to be mentioned again. I wish he'd never told me of the original deed. I can't look the cad in the eye and consider him my friend anymore. He's just a slimy turd, and always will be. Every time I see the woman, I think "whore".
Between the pair of them, Manning and Assange are despicable ****s.
I trust this clears up any confusion.