Distinguishing “Wikileaks” from the Pentagon Papers: One PJP Fellow’s Insight

Ever since Wikileaks burst onto the scene a few months ago, comparisons have been made linking the story of Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, with Daniel Ellsberg, the defense analyst who in 1971 exposed the Pentagon's secret history of the Vietnam War, revealing gross misrepresentations on the part of the government. Ellsberg's leak, which led to the publication of the Papers by the New York Times, resulted in a constitutional challenge and one of the most dramatic decisions in Supreme Court history, extending the reach of First Amendment protections and a reassertion of the doctrine of prior restraint. Ellsberg, now 79, has even spoken out in support of Assange and of PFC Bradley Manning, who leaked defense documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to Assange. But can the two stories -- the Pentagon Papers and Wikileaks -- really be equated? PJP Fellow Trudy Rubin says no.