Pentagon Papers

Rudy Giuliani broke with White House administration policy last week, stating that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange should not be prosecuted.
A well respect layer and legal mind, Donald Trump’s attorney compared Assange’s WikiLeaks publications to the Pentagon Papers, making the case that Assange had not done “anything wrong” and should not go to jail for disseminating stolen information just as major, mainstream media media does.

Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange had not done “anything wrong” and should not go to jail for disseminating stolen information just as major media does.

In a recent online interview, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg talks about the possibility of Julian Assange being tried in the US under the Espionage Act for publishing classified material.
Joe Lauria, Editor in Chief of Consortium News, spoke to Ellsberg during an ‘online vigil’ for the WikiLeaks founder and editor organized by Unity4J.com.

In an interview with Consortium News Editor-in-Chief Joe Lauria, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg says the Espionage Act, under which he was indicted, cannot apply to Julian Assange because he is a journalist. 
Speaking during an online vigil for Assange organized by Unity4J.com, Ellsberg told Lauria that the motive for U.S. leaders to protect their secrets and go after Assange has nothing to do with their mantra of “national security.”

Support of Julian Assange outside the Ecuadorian Embassy (Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge, London). Marshall24 /Flickr

The Western world never ceases to speak of its “democratic values.” In Western political theory, the way democracy works is by free speech and a free press. By speaking out, citizens and media keep the government accountable.

The Washington Post: Watchdog or stenographer to power?
by Ian Sinclair
Morning Star
22 March 2018
STEVEN SPIELBERG’S new film about the Washington Post’s decision in 1971 to publish the Pentagon Papers — a secret history of the Vietnam War that proved successive US presidents had lied to the US public — has received huge amounts of critical acclaim.

WASHINGTON (Opinion) — Meryl Streep received her 21st Oscar nomination last week for her portrayal of Katharine Graham in Steven Spielberg’s thriller, The Post. The film depicts the iconic newspaper publisher and her storied editor, Ben Bradlee (played by Tom Hanks), staring down a ruthless Nixon administration and cautious shareholders to print the secret government study that put paid to the official lies undergirding the Vietnam War, in an act of heroism that saved the Fourth Estate if not American democracy itself.
Talk about fake news.

Imagine a film about a backer of an American war in the Third World who, as a State Department official, decides to visit and observe that war firsthand. After many months he learns that most of what our leaders have been telling the public about the war was wrong.  In reality, our side was not winning, and most of the claims made for the effort were false. For example, patrols reported to protect certain areas did not even exist. The written reports describing these patrols were simply made up.

The new movie “The Post” tells the story of the Pentagon Papers from a curious perspective that ignores much of the drama of the real history, as James DiEugenio explains. By James DiEugenio Imagine a film about a backer of…Read more →