Private Manning got punished [1] for doing what many anti-war activists could not or would not. Society has debt to him. War is not a sport and blindly supporting one's "team" is a foolish thing to do; it's what typically supports and excuses war crimes. Here in the UK intimidation tactics against acts like Manning's expand to relatives of those who report on leaks like Manning's (see the latest on Miranda [2,3]) and the US military machine now calls the Founding Fathers extremists by attributing to them “extremist ideologies." [4]
Anyone reporting on or connected with a journalist writing articles about the NSA surveillance is now considered a threat.
The detention of David Miranda -- partner of the Guardian journalist involved in the NSA revelations -- and the destruction of hard drives in the British newspaper's basement reveal one thing: Governments do not want their citizens to be informed when it comes to the topic of surveillance.
A Department of Defense training manual obtained by a conservative watchdog group pointed to the original American colonists as examples of an extremist movement, comments that have sparked fear of a broader crackdown on dissent in America.
The training manual provides information that describes, among other things, “common themes in extremist ideologies.”
One reason the White House drafted the document, sources tell me, was to beat back criticism from some members of Congress who have said the reason they have not taken any action on Guantanamo since 2009 is because the White House did not have a comprehensive plan for shutting down the facility.