Daniel Ellsberg, Who Leaked Secret ‘Pentagon Papers,’ Dies

In a written statement made by his family, Ellsberg was reported to have succumbed to pancreatic cancer at his California home at the age of 92.

Ellsberg first announced on his Twitter account on March 2 that he had been diagnosed with “incurable pancreatic cancer,” saying, “I’m sorry to inform you that my doctors gave me 3-6 months.” he shared his statement.

THE PENTAGON FLOWS DOCUMENTS TO THE PRESS

Ellsberg was born in Chicago in 1931. After graduating from Harvard University in 1952, he joined the Navy and served in the Army for two years.

After the Army, Ellsberg returned to Harvard to complete his PhD in economics and took a job at the Pentagon in 1964 under Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

Ellsberg, who served two years in Vietnam, contributed to a special Defense Department oversight known as the “Pentagon Papers,” which contained the most classified information about the war in the region.

Ellsberg, whose views on the Vietnam War changed over time, secretly photocopied and leaked the 7,000-page “Pentagon Papers” to the press in 1969 while working as a defense analyst at RAND Cooperation, revealing that the US government The US knew for a long time that it was not going to win the war and misled the public.

Although then-President of the United States Richard Nixon accused Ellsberg of being a traitor, the administration petitioned the court not to release the documents leaked to the New York Times and Washington Post, but the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ellsberg. the press in the case.

TRIAL WITH 115 YEARS IN PRISON

Ellsberg, who was prosecuted under the Espionage Act, was sentenced to 115 years in prison. The case was dismissed for wrongdoing after it was revealed that the Nixon administration had engaged in illegal espionage.

The documents leaked by Ellsberg were assessed by experts at the time as a factor in the US withdrawal from Vietnam as opposition to the war grew in the country, and subsequent events were the first hints of the Watergate scandal, which led to Nixon to resign. .

Ellsberg maintained his lifelong anti-war stance after the Vietnam War and was among those who opposed the Russo-Ukrainian War, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ellsberg, who has always supported whistleblowers in leaking confidential state documents, also supported whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, who were widely discussed in the American public on this issue. (AA)