Daniel Ellsberg came into the spotlight in 1971 when he leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. The Pentagon Papers were 40,000 pages worth of documents of classified information pertaining to the Vietnam War. The information in the Papers dated from 1945 to 1967. Ellsberg gained access to the Papers while he was a military strategist in the Pentagon. The release of the Pentagon Papers brought to light issues of the freedom of speech and the transparency of governments.
When the New York Times set out to publish the information in the Papers, President Nixon ordered an injunction brought against the paper. The Times fought the injunction all the way up to the Supreme Court where it was overturned. At the same time, the Washington Post moved to print material despite an attempt by the Assistant Attorney General to prevent the publication.
Ellsberg himself also faced legal troubles as a result of the Pentagon Papers. Facing a charge of treason and up to 115 years in prison, Ellsberg showed no fear. Deep down he knew that what he had done had not “provided aid and comfort for the enemy”. The only people he provided aid and comfort for were the misinformed Americans.
Throughout the conversation, Ellsberg brought up Bradley Manning and Julian Assange. Manning is a former U.S. Army soldier who leaked cables about the War in Iraq to Wikileaks. Many words have been used to describe these types of men- journalist, whistleblower, and traitor, to name a few. In my opinion, they are patriots. True that what Ellsberg did was patriotic as an American, but I am thinking on a more global scale. These men are patriots for the human race who has been led to ignorance by the deceit of the untrustworthy governments. I am scared that the cables leaked to Wikileaks and other sources are only the tip of the iceberg.
