If you have the right clearance and database access, which is simply a requirement for most jobs, you have access to all these records and more. It’s not a conspiracy. In fact, it’s entirely routine. Any Private working in these jobs will have access to this sort of thing. I worked in this line of work for many years, including Iraq and Afghanistan. There’s nothing unusual at all about his accesses.
In fact, Manning was more of a general analyst. The more specialized analysts of his same pay grade often have access to more sensitive pools of information.
It’s just how things are done now. Modern warfare is based on networked, collaborative information sharing. We have too much information that is classified, to the point that it is impossible to get anything done without ensuring relatively smooth access to vast amounts of data once you’re on the inside.
This is one of those issues where the amount of idiocy by the media/bloggers that have no concept of how the classified world works is beyond belief.
People have this weird idea (mainly from movies) that ALL classified material is restricted to an elite handful of people, and to look at it you have to go through five retina scans, two fingerprint readers, etc. to some sort of vault 1,000 feet underground.
I think there are something like 2 Million people with SECRET clearances; last I read it was something like a million with TS?
Manning wasn't "in charge" of anything. He just had database access.
Nobody I know was surprised by the Manning case; they were just surprised it hadn't happened yet.
I had SIPRNET access domestically at the time Manning had it in Iraq. At the time it was essentially a giant, classified internet where you can wander around and download whatever you want without supervision (some sites had their own permissions, of course.) And I could have burned a CD a day and drove off the base with it every day for a year without anyone noticing.