I disagree that exposing classified military secrets is heroic or meritorious. War is an ugly business and any view into any side of any war is going to reveal

I disagree that exposing classified military secrets is heroic or meritorious. War is an ugly business and any view into any side of any war is going to reveal atrocious things. That's what happens during a campaign to kill people. So, were the secrets Manning risked everything to expose really that different from the day-to-day happenings of war? Just to touch on a couple of revelations in Manning's leaked documents: 1. The tortures and rapes Manning exposed were committed by Iraqi soldiers and police, which was business as usual under Sadam, and it is naive to think we could jump in and stop that ingrained behavior right away. 2. Soldiers trying to escape a deadly situation with guns blazing is hardly new to Afghanistan. 3. I don't see a problem with the U.S. targeting the leadership of the U.N. with intelligence campaigns. Are any of these things really big meritorious revelations? I mean we knew about the Iraqi torture and rape before Bush ever declared war on them, didn't we? One thing you seem to be glossing over is that Manning wanted out of the military anyway. He was upset about being shipped to Iraq and it is reasonable to posit that his leak was much more self-serving than heroic.