As revolting as this idea is, it is not exactly a surprise. I think he got in bed with the CIA back in the when he started his career. He hated the USSR and communism on emotional grounds because it confiscated some lands that belonged to his family, in Estonia - it's a Swedish aristocratic family and they had assets in the Baltics... but no longer, after the war! I guess he grew up a bit bitter and felt like "the enemy of your enemy is your friend".
This is such a good example of what is ruining our world today. This endless blood-feud mentality.

The other day I posted something about Russia on Facebook, and we were having a really interesting conversation about the Cold War, and how we were all lied to, and why we need to get past it and become allies with Russia (wouldn't THAT be a switch?!). Then this one guy jumped into the conversation. He is American, of Polish descent, and he was angry and talking about how Russians are all bad, blah blah blah. Apparently the Russians had taken some land from his family too, before he was even born. But he is STILL angry about it! I told him that he sounded like he was in a lot of pain, and needs to think about what is really hurting him, and open his eyes about Russia because it is not the USSR, and it never was exactly what we thought it was anyway. He replied that I had no heart because I don't feel sorry for people in Poland (he assumed!). So I simply replied that I grieve for ALL people who suffer.

The Nazis slaughtered so many millions of people, and the whole world is STILL reeling from that. Israel has grown up and gone from victim to bully, bullying people in Palestine and segregating them into ghettos just the way the Jews were segregated in Germany. The Palestinians are no picnic either, and they constantly provoke Israel. Now Israel wants to drag the US into some war, which the US does not want. Russia is trying to say - enough aggression America! Iran is in our back yard, let us handle this situation! But of course America does not trust Russia, because America does not really know Russia.

It's all so very human. Our relationships with each other are magnified at the world level in how our nations treat one another. We can only change our individual natures, one by one. It is all we can truly do.

I for one, admire the courage it took for PFC Manning to reveal ugly secrets about the US. The silence MUST be broken, for the healing to begin.