PFC Manning fiasco

I seriously wonder if people truly understand the ramifications of what they are saying when they say they are for Manning. In case you haven't heard anything about what I'm referencing read the story I linked to below:

Manning’s personal struggles key to defense

Ok now that, that's out of the way, here's why I think it's ridiculous for people to support him. Yes, I understand that the American public has to right to know certain things, but if our government and military was completely transparent with everything, then we could NOT effectively protect American lives from people and countries that want to harm us and the American way of life.

You cannot have it both ways. The principle is what is on trial here. If you say it's ok for someone with a security clearance to divulge information they are privy to, you are effectively saying we might as well not have security clearances and you are effectively saying complete transparency with other governments is acceptable.

In a perfect world sure, but that is not the reality of the world we live in, and the U.S.'s obsession with knowing everything, puts the lives of Americans at risk-- the lives not only of the ones who serve, but also the lives of the people our military is duty-bound to protect. If you truly want to protect our freedoms, siding with someone who pretty much betrayed our government's trust isn't the way to do it... it's actually putting our freedoms at jeopardy.