The Pentagon Papers ­ Revisited

In 1971, in an effort to clear the air about what had really been involved with the American involvement in the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg released the then TOP SECRET 'Pentagon Papers' to the American public, with full knowledge that his actions would be considered "treason in a time of war."

He did this largely because he believed that the American public had been lied to through four US presidents, who had based their policies upon keeping the US congress completely in the dark. His actions, Ellsberg believed would "keep America safe from this kind of government treachery for at least the next twenty years." As it turned out this historical lesson only lasted a short while, because soon after The Pentagon Papers had been read by millions-the United States was at it again: In 1973 two years before the Viet Nam War ended we overthrew the elected government of Salvador Allende, in Chile. By 1975, perhaps in large part due to the release of the Pentagon Papers, the Vietnam War was ended.

"Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to the Times. On June 13, 1971, the paper began to publish the first installment of the 7,000 page document. For 15 days, the Times was prevented from publishing its articles on the orders of the Nixon administration. However, the Supreme Court ordered publication to resume freely. Although the Times did not reveal the source of the leak, Ellsberg knew that the FBI would soon determine that he was the source of the leak. Ellsberg went underground, living secretly among like-minded people. He was not caught by the FBI, even though they were under enormous pressure from the Nixon Administration to find him.

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