The Art of Printing Secrets

No government wants even its most junior secrets divulged. So last week, when the New York Times, the Guardian, and Der Spiegel published stories based on the 92,000-document Afghanistan stash obtained and distributed by Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks, U.S. officials obviously deplored the coverage.

But after the stories ran, Assange and WikiLeaks became the target of official ire, not the publications. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, White House national security adviser James Jones, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen condemned the WikiLeaks founder. Perhaps the only hostile critic of the press–as opposed to WikiLeaks–was Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.

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