Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg was put on trial in 1971 for leaking the Pentagon Papers, but the case was dismissed in 1973 because of government misconduct. He is the author of "Papers on the War," "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers" and "The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner." Follow him on Twitter: @DanielEllsberg
Articles by this author
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Views Friday, January 08, 2021 Will Unprovoked War With Iran Be Trump's Parting Gift to the World? President Trump’s incitement of criminal mob violence and occupation of the Capitol makes clear there is no limitation whatever on the abuse of power he may commit in the next two weeks he remains in office. Outrageous as his incendiary performance was on Wednesday, I fear he may incite something... Read more |
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Views Monday, November 02, 2020 Dear Fellow Progressives: Please Vote for Biden 'Tis the season for some progressives to argue that the best way to build a progressive political movement in America is to stick it to the centrist Democrats—who have rejected progressive nominees and platforms—by voting for a third party, even in swing states. If that helps elect what many regard... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, October 13, 2020 Leaker of Pentagon Papers: Trump Is an Enemy of the Constitution and Must Be Defeated For almost four years, I’ve been very worried—ashamed and dismayed, really—that my country allowed Donald Trump to be president. It’s now of transcendent importance to prevent him from gaining a second term. Michigan is my home state. I attended public grade school in Highland Park and was a... Read more |
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Views Saturday, May 18, 2019 The Truth-Teller: From the Pentagon Papers to the Doomsday Machine This interview was originally published on the Great Transition Initiative website. See more of GTI's work here . The growth of the military-industrial complex poses an existential threat to humanity. Daniel Ellsberg, peace activist and Vietnam War whistleblower discusses with Tellus Senior Fellow... Read more |
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Views Monday, October 06, 2014 Ellsberg Sees Vietnam-Like Risks in ISIS War At a recent talk at the National Press Club in Washington DC, Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971, says he believes there’s not one person in the Pentagon who would agree that President Obama can achieve his aim of destroying ISIS in Iraq and Syria with air strikes, along with... Read more |
Views Thursday, January 09, 2014 On Secrecy, Oaths, and Edward Snowden These two pieces, the first by Marcy Wheeler , in part commenting on the second by Amy Davidson in the New Yorker (along with Snowden himself, in Read more |
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Views Monday, July 08, 2013 Snowden Made the Right Call When He Fled the US Many people compare Edward Snowden to me unfavorably for leaving the country and seeking asylum, rather than facing trial as I did. I don’t agree. The country I stayed in was a different America, a long time ago. Read more |
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Views Monday, June 10, 2013 Edward Snowden: Saving Us from the United Stasi of America In my estimation, there has not been in American history a more important leak than Edward Snowden's release of NSA material – and that definitely includes the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago . Read more |
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Views Wednesday, March 13, 2013 A Salute to Bradley Manning, Whistleblower, As We Hear His Words for the First Time On Tuesday, the Freedom of the Press Foundation , an organization that I co-founded and of which I'm on the board , has published an audio recording of Bradley Manning's speech to a military court from two weeks ago, in which he gives his reasons and motivations behind leaking over 700,000 government documents to WikiLeaks. Read more |
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Views Thursday, October 18, 2012 Defeat Romney, Without Illusions about Obama It is urgently important to prevent a Republican administration under Romney/Ryan from taking office in January 2013. The election is now just weeks away, and I want to urge those whose values are generally in line with mine -- progressives, especially activists -- to make this goal one of your priorities during this period. Read more |