Sure, he's a dirt bag and he hates the US, or at least the "war on terror". I have no sympathy for him and I believe he will go down hard within a few years, deservedly. But he has provided a service by helping to expose the incompetence of how our government handles state secrets. After him there will be others doing similar things, most likely also from outside the US. By the way, I don't think espionage charges will stick in Assange's case. Our law is behind the times vis a vis technology, so others will have to wait for new laws to be made to handle cases like this.