Manning apologizes, said he ‘hurt the United States’

So with that in mind there's no reason that Manning should have to say that he harmed the U.S. And as it turns out you'd have to be pretty blind to come away with the idea that there was zero injury to the U.S. So in this regard he's only saying what is plainly obvious.

His explanation makes sense though and certainly seems sincere. He's a junior enlisted soldier, wickedly smart, trying to make a difference in the world. He has his own personal issues. The military (and Army in particular) are, despite his best efforts, practically in a different universe than he is. And now he sees an opportunity (perhaps with a wee bit of coaching from the IRC channels he was hanging in) to uphold his oath to the Constitution and show the American people what their military was really up to.

So far the only part that's different from any other junior enlisted soldier, sailor, etc. is how exactly he chose to act out on his idealistic moment. Most do something stupid but incredibly minor and go on to have a normal life.

In this case, Manning's defense team is exactly right: He should never have been over there, because his particular idealistic outburst had much wider ranging effects than something like flying up to DC and walking to the White House and demanding to speak to the Commander-in-Chief (which is something that has certainly never happened on one of my duty days).

So I feel sorry for him, I really do. I just wish he hadn't been led in the direction he was, because I don't doubt that he meant well.

Certainly his statement was designed to not piss off the sentencing judge. But it meshes very well with his earlier statement from when he pled guilty, and so I see no reason to doubt its truth or sincerity. He meant well, things didn't go the way he expected they would, and so he offers his mea culpa.