Daniel Ellsberg (RIP)

For John, BLUF:  Daniel Elsburg made his name with The Pentagon Papers, a collection of documents on the Viet-nam War, which he leaked to the media..  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower, dies aged 92

Here is the sub-headline:

Analyst who leaked studies showing US government knew the Vietnam war was un-winnable became activist and writer

From , by Martin Pengelly in New York @MartinPengelly Fri 16 Jun 2023 15.04 EDT.

Here is the lede plus one:

Daniel Ellsberg, a US government analyst who became one of the most famous whistleblowers in world politics when he leaked the Pentagon Papers, has died. He was 92. His death was confirmed by his family on Friday.

In March, Ellsberg announced that he had inoperable pancreatic cancer. Saying he had been given three to six months to live, he said he had chosen not to undergo chemotherapy and had been assured of hospice care.

“I am not in any physical pain,” Ellsberg wrote then, adding: “My cardiologist has given me license to abandon my salt-free diet of the last six years. This has improved my life dramatically: the pleasure of eating my favourite foods!”

On Friday, the family said Ellsberg “was not in pain” when he died “surrounded by his family”. He spent his final months eating “hot chocolate, croissants, cake, poppyseed bagels and lox” and enjoying “several viewings of his all-time favourite [movie], Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” their statement added.

“In his final days, surrounded by so much love from so many people, Daniel joked, ‘If I had known dying would be like this, I would have done it sooner … ’

It is nicee to see someone with a sense of humor about their condition.

I think the subheadline at The Orange County Register csaptured an important outcome of the leak of the Pentsagon Papers.

The government consultant’s leak inspired acts of retaliation by President Richard Nixon that helped lead to his resignation.

The leaked documents from Dr Ellsburg to The New York Times laid bare disshonesty and confusion within severwl Administrations regsrding the war in Viet-nam.  To that extent it was good for the nation.  On the other hand, it served to further undermine ongoing efforts to support the relatively free and Democratic Republic of Viet-nam.  In the end the US Congress pulled the rug out from under the South Viet-namese government and it fell to the Communist Dictatorship of North Viet-nam.

There are those who say we could not win the war in Viet-nam.  I am not one of them.  However, we would have needed a military leader more like Edward Lansdale, which the Army lacked.

One collateral outcome of the leaks was, on 30 June 1971, a Supreme Court decision, 6–3, that the government failed to meet the heavy burden of proof required for a prior restraint injunction (New York Times Co. v. United States).  This is an important part of our Free Press Rights under the First Amendment.

Regards  —  Cliff