What Pfc. Bradley Manning and Julian Assange did was not treason, it was exposing heinous acts indicting a corrupt establishment policy ("Justice for Manning," Jan. 19). After World War II, Germans claimed that since they didn't know about the extermination camps, how could they be held responsible? Even those who did know claimed they could not be held responsible because they were "just following orders."
What Messrs. Manning and Assange did was expose acts that go against our most cherished beliefs. Now we know. Condemning these men and others like them for exposing unconscionable behaviors is not treason, it is the ultimate patriotism of defending one's country's most cherished values.
Ingrid Krause, Baltimore