Assange is a journalist, as such he writes, releases information, hero or criminal neither, a freelance hack doing a job. He may be a rapist, let his trial decide that.

The criminals in this episode are the ones that either leaked or allowed to leak. Manning deserves the full justice of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the death penalty. He broke the faith with his fellow servicemen/women. Every US Serviceman/woman is schooled in the UCMJ within weeks of entrance to the service, he knew what he was doing was wrong.

People like Manning, John Anthony Walker (google it, he was really bad news) deserve to die for aiding and abetting the enemy.

I served in the Navy for 7 years, I have a daughter joining in 2011.