Earlier quoted context omitted.
Think of it though, if I set a bomb somewhere and someone else tells you to walk over near it, that person bears some measure of responsibility as well, because they know the consequences that must result from a bomb detonation. If Manning is to take some of the credit for the Arab Spring then he must also bear some of the responsibility. You don't topple despots without bloodshed, so by all means take credit for you…
> so by all means take credit for your good deeds but don't try to weasel out of the negative effects you should also have known about. G.W. Bush likes to think the war in Iraq was mission accomplished, WMD dismantled, democracy restore to Iraq, a great success. When will he and the US government stop trying to weasel out and come clean on their stupid mistake of starting the war in the first place?
In fact I read part of the HASC's proposed NDAA for FY-14 and despite being Republican-dominated the bill was full of warnings about applying the lessons learned from Iraq when deciding what to do, or not do, about the ongoing war in Syria.
It sounds to me like the U.S. government in all sectors is well-aware of how stupid that mistake was.