The very fact that lowly private Manning had access to this stuff should tell you that the intelligence services of literally any country in the world have acce

The very fact that lowly private Manning had access to this stuff should tell you that the intelligence services of literally any country in the world have access to this. The system is only effective at hiding information from citiziens, who are not able to access the very information that politicians use to guide their decisions. That is, of course, why they happily go on record with blatant lies, at no risk of being exposed. Contrast this with their complete non-statements in this current NSA situation; they would rather make no statement at all than be exposed as a liar, for no one knows what else Snowden/Greenwald will release that could make previous statements look like disinformation.