The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

This documentary is a must-see for anyone interested in American history. The most important reason to see it is that it illustrates the cozy nature of press-government relations in the 1960s, and how that relationship changed radically, albeit slowly, as a result of Daniel Ellsberg's leak of the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times.

The Pentagon Papers were top secret documents that detailed the real reasons for America's entry into the Vietnam War. They clearly showed that presidents Kennedy and Johnson had lied to the American public and flouted international law in sending troops to Southeast Asia. What was revolutionary was the mainstream press's eventual willingness to publish the classified documents. This had never been done before in America. The story as told in this film is as riveting as any spy caper, and shows how individual acts of courage on the part of several people were crucial to the success of Ellsberg's efforts to reveal the truth.

There is also some black humor in the film, where President Nixon reveals his vengeful anger against Ellsberg on excerpts from his famous tapes. It is no exaggeration to say that Ellsberg almost single-handedly set in motion the events that would bring down the Nixon presidency and end America's involvement in Vietnam.

The leaking of 'the Pentagon papers' about the Vietnam War in 1971 by Daniel Ellsberg, and their publication in the New York Times, was an epochal event in modern American history. At the time, Ellsberg was widely reviled as a traitor, and many still say that about him. This begs the question as to whether one can be a traitor for informing the public of one's own country about what their leaders are doing in their name and with their money. The story of the 'Pentagon Papers' is complicated by the revelations a year later, in 1972, by Colonel L. Fletcher Prouty, in his book THE SECRET TEAM. Prouty, who was an even more important whistleblower than Ellsberg, states unequivocally that the 'Pentagon Papers', were fabricated by the CIA as a means of shifting the blame for the unsuccessful Vietnam War onto the US military, whereas the Vietnam War was started by and entirely run by the CIA themselves, and all those generals like Maxwell Taylor who were involved were really CIA employees in uniform; as for the Army, Navy, and Air Force, they supplied men and machines when required, but it was the CIA who ran the whole show. Prouty is at pains to differentiate between the intelligence division of the CIA (of which he apparently approves), which merely collects information, and the special ops part of the CIA, which he claims went out of control in 1955 and became a state within a state which manipulated presidents, cabinet members, and members of Congress with skewed briefings and kept the truth under wraps by unjustifiable secrecy classifications, whose sole purpose was to conceal from Americans what their own secret service was doing and spending. Prouty states that Daniel Ellsberg was a CIA man, despite the many other posts he subsequently held. This is highly likely, because he probably could not have entered the Rand Corporation in 1958 or had so many 'higher than top secret' clearances subsequently if he had not been CIA. In this film, Ellsberg states that he had signed more than a dozen secrecy agreements. Since Ellsberg narrowly missed being jailed for 75 years on one charge, he has clearly never been in any position to state that he was a CIA man, because that would mean breaking a secrecy agreement, and would give his enemies the opportunity to take him back to court again on another charge. Prouty believed that Ellsberg was a knowing participant in a CIA disinformation campaign, and that his being a whistleblower was phoney. It is not really possible to believe that, however, after seeing this revealing documentary film. Yes, he was probably a CIA man, but no, he was probably not a conscious member of a disinformation conspiracy. In other words, he was probably manipulated. But in 'the Shadow World' everyone is manipulated, and even the manipulators themselves are being manipulated by their own insane delusions. That would explain why Ellsberg's phone calls were being monitored for two years before he leaked the documents, and yet the security people just sat back and waited for him to leak them rather than taking pre-emptive steps to stop him doing so. It was all too easy. It was all a setup. I wonder if even Ellsberg knows.

Daniel Ellsberg was an ex-marine and top policy wonk, who became convinced that the Vietnam War was wrong. He was also convinced that the government knew it was wrong, but continued to fight mainly to save face. Considering this a moral abhorrence, he leaked top secret papers to the press. They didn't betray really damaging information, but they were an embarrassment to the government who tried to prosecute Ellsberg. To discredit the leaker, President Nixon ordered his aides to burgle his psychiatrist, starting a chain of events that led to Watergate. Eventually, after Nixon had resigned, the war finally ended, although Ellsberg was disappointed that his publication of the truth has failed to turn public opinion decisively against it at an earlier time. It's a fascinating story, and this documentary re-lives it. Most compelling is the sense that Ellsberg gives of a man motivated by an extraordinarily strong inner moral compass; while the likes of Nixon would do anything to hold onto what they had, Ellsberg risked a life in prison in the hope of ending the war. Today, our politicians seem to some to be making the same mistakes their forebears did; we have also learned something of how they lie to us, but still have not stopped them. Ellsberg is still trying. He emerges from this film as a giant of a man.

The documentary is about a man with a conscience and a love for his country. He experiences an epiphany and realizes the government(s) of his country have been lying to its people for years, specifically about the Vietnam war, and decides to take steps to end the war and bring to light the artifice behind the government's public facade.

He sees the costs incurred, in terms of dollars and lives spent, he experiences the hawkish behaviour driving the war in Southeast Asia and in the end puts his career and life on the line to see the truth brought to life.

Terrific movie, the qualities embodied by Ellsberg should be encouraged in anyone seeking public office. Those who call him a traitor perhaps should not be so quick to judge this man. Would anyone be happy to see a son come home in a flag draped box because a lying politician sent him to war? Ellsberg thought not, and became an enormous figure in US history because he dared speak out.

I am well aware of the facts as they happened. I have watched the movie based on this drama and "enjoyed" is not quite the word for it but felt sorry for the US population in general.

It is really unfortunate that there doe snot exist another Daniel Ellsberg from the regime of Bush Jr. It is about time the US government comes up with something like an Ombudsman - universally trusted would be the first requirement - who has unimpeded access to everything under the sky - within US, of course, to verify the truth as handed out by the people in power. They also need to take away the power of "presidential pardon" in the current form. It should be available only when a person is accused, tried and convicted.

Going off on a tangent I watched Avatar with great interest. Apart from the technology and special effects one message came through very clearly. What US wants they will get by hook or by crook. When any one else has what it wants simply make them your enemies and under the guise of preemptive action against terrorist attack destroy them and take over!