WASHINGTON – While it may be a curious legal strategy, an Army private's decision to admit in court that he sent hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks has energized his supporters around the world.

Pfc. Bradley Manning, 25, has been called by some a whistleblowing hero, a political prisoner and a symbol of the misplaced priorities of the U.S. military and the Obama administration. Others, particularly in the United States, view him as a traitor. Regardless of his motives, he appears likely to spend many years in a military prison.

At the very least, Manning likely ended speculation that he leaked the largest trove of classified material in U.S. history wantonly or unknowingly.