During Watergate and the Pentagon Papers outrage I was a military officer. While I took the
position that the culprit(s) should not have leaked the the documents I certainly felt the reporters
and their newspapers were just as guilty for printing classified documents. I worked in Minute Man Missiles and held a top secret clearance, and so I took those things very seriously.

But be that as it may, the reporters and newspapers were not held accountable for any wrong doing. When I learned about the whole WikiLeaks affair my mind raced back to the Pentagon Papers and I felt Mr. Assange should be treated the same as those newspapers, their reporters, editors and publishers. I cannot see any difference and if I read Mr. Mullins correctly, I think he feels the same as I.

Just a few days ago Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation’s gold medal for ‘championing people’s right to know’. He received the award in London on May 11, 2011, the same day a federal grand jury held its first session to determine if Assange should be tried for espionage.

While I don’t condone the soldier’s actions nor WikiLeaks publishing the documents, there are just too many precedents established to justify convicting Assange or his organization.

I might add that Daniel Ellsberg was not convicted for his part in the Pentagon Papers which were declassified 44 years later.