If Wikileaks and Der Speigel, NYT and others move forward with their publication, they MUST be prosecuted.
1.Of course it's Manning. And he IS being prosecuted.
2.On what legal grounds would you prosecute “the press”? They are under no legal obligation to “protect” any government declared “classified” information they manage to obtain.
The “government” always decides what information is formally “classified”, and exactly who has access to it.
It would seem they either made a very poor choice in giving Manning such access...
Or, they gave Manning access, and knew exactly what to expect.
It is certainly known amongst all levels of government for more than the thirty years of my direct observation, the exact nature and probable lifespan of “classified information”.
This might explain to the casual and ignorant observers, as to the “why” that certain agencies do not openly “communicate” with other agencies.
The pendulum always swings both ways, and will never stop, as someone will always give it another push, from either direction.
There’s a WSJ article on Drudge stating that the Pentagon is checking Manning out. The link is above.