Did you expect him to first surround himself with like minded people before releasing the info? The world has been changed more by individuals following their conscience than by revolutions. Violent revolutions guarantee the maintenance of the status quo.
The world has also been severely damaged by the ravings of solitary madmen as well... I don't know what 'options' that Manning had, and frankly, I really don't care. Again, he made a unilateral assessment and took actions that will result in long-lived problems among many different nations for some time to come. Let me ask you this: Other than airing a number of embarrassing memos, Wikileaks and Manning achieved nothing more than widening the rift between a few specific nations.
Who will pay the price? By in large, Manning and wikileaks were very successful in kicking a large number of needy people that might have benefited, square in the balls.