Daniel Ellsberg was the man most responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers back in 1971, which showed that the US government had systematically lied about the War on Vietnam. It was a defining moment in American politics, as important if not moreso as Watergate and, like Watergate, it has become part of Boomer mythology. So it’s not surprising that it’s now being used against Wikileaks, as the golden standard that Assange and co’s leaks don’t measure up to. Ellsberg himself however knows better:
As part of their attempt to blacken WikiLeaks and Assange, pundit commentary over the weekend has tried to portray Assange’s exposure of classified materials as very different from — and far less laudable than — what Daniel Ellsberg did in releasing the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Ellsberg strongly rejects the mantra “Pentagon Papers good; WikiLeaks material bad.” He continues: “That’s just a cover for people who don’t want to admit that they oppose any and all exposure of even the most misguided, secretive foreign policy. The truth is that EVERY attack now made on WikiLeaks and Julian Assange was made against me and the release of the Pentagon Papers at the time.”