Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Wikileak Case Echoes Pentagon Papers

By Coleen Rowley and Robert Parry
June 15, 2010

Almost four decades after Defense Department insider Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers – thus exposing the lies that led the United States into the Vietnam War – another courageous “national security leaker” has stepped forward and now is facing retaliation similar to what the U.S. government tried to inflict on Ellsberg.

Read on.

4 comments:

Ethan Allen said...

There is much to be said about this issue of the conversion of the "4th estate" into a corporate owned and operated propaganda smoke-screen that obscures any meaningful information from public consumption. This complete compitulation and compromise of the primary public access to reliable information is a clarion call to the few remaining citizens who insist on an informed awareness.
Thank you both for what you do, we have no where to go but up, from where we currently are.

Nathaniel said...

The interesting parallels between Ellsberg and Assange, and the distressing parallels between the reactions of the respective administrations, media, and society as a whole, deserve much more discussion.

For my own thoughts, see "To leak or not to leak? Considerations on Daniel Ellsberg and Julian Assange," June 13, at http://westchesterview.tumblr.com/post/694364507/to-leak-or-not-to-leak-considerations-on-daniel.

To me, the saddest part is that 39 years after the New York Times published its first installment of the Pentagon Papers on June 13, 1971, and despite all the court cases, talk, and promises since then, we seem no closer to having a transparent government than we were in the age of Nixon... and the press seems farther away from making it happen.

Mike said...

First of all, Ellsberg is a fucking screwball. His association with the People’s Temple, allegations that UN Ambassador Andrew Young confessed to him (and naturally only him) that Martin Luther King jr was assassinated by the FBI, the declaration that Korean Airlines flight 007 was on a surveillance mission when it was shot down, and his recent spiral into the depths of the 9/11 truth movement clearly demonstrate that his taste of the limelight after releasing the Pentagon Papers turned him into little more that a wannabe celeb starfucker.

As to the meat of this sad article (seriously, you don’t get paid for this garbage, do you?), Manning released tens of thousands of diplomatic cables that have nothing to do with war in Iraq or Afghanistan. That’s why Lamo snitched. The release of confidential diplomatic cables could start a war. You did your best to obscure this very obvious and well known fact, but fell short seeing as how its all over the news.

Manning and his pal Assange both deserve a bullet for this stunt.

Anonymous said...

Gee, Mike. Tells us what you really think! A bullet to the head for releasing the video clearly showing the world, once again, what trigger happy bastards the US is? You "worried" about starting a war? Put your crack pipe down... we already started two, others simmering in Yemen, Somalia, Southa American, and another on the burner for Iran... Are you nuts or something? I suppose covering up ones sins is the 11th commandment, the unpardonable "sin" for the USSA and its stormtroopers. Now go back to your goose stepping practice. Who knows when you'll be called up to put those bullets into me as well.