Ellsberg - Hero or Traitor?

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Squiggy

ThunderDick
I've just rewatched The Pentagon Papers. I was wondering how others viewed his actions. Was it a heroic act? Was it treason? I believe it was heroic. His ordeal instills the thought that each of us can make a difference.
 
Daniel Ellsberg. The pentagon papers. Do you not know what they were? I'll post some info if you need it.
 
I'd have to say it doesn't ring a bell at all. I take it was a movie based on a true story? I'm afraid I'm blissfully ignorant about it.
 
OK...Till I gather the info...Daniel Ellsberg was a Rand Corp employee, GS-18. He was sent to Viet Nam to assess the situation for the pentagon. He figured out that Westmoerlands "body count" was a myth and reported that. Adding his assessment which was that we should get out of Viet Nam. Long story short, the pentagon buried his report and the war escalated. Ellsburg, knowing that there was some political corruption going on in this, copied and gave the report to the New York Times. He was arrested for treason because the papers were Top Secret. yada yada....But he exposed the corruption and the illegalities.
 
Hmmm. Higher good? yes. Still treason? Yep.

I realize he may have been doing it for a good reason, and I assume he helped the war end early, but if it WAS top secret stuff, he should have known better, or at least known he was going to get in trouble for it, and taken his consequences. It would be a hard situation to be in.
 
in that case hero. he gave the people info on the gov't that was important. to me hes a poloitical prisoner. or was i dont know if he got out or if hes still alive.
 
The Supreme Court ruled that the Times had every right under the constitution to publish the papers. He was still charged with treason and went to court. The Judge decided that, even though it was an act of treason, it was for the higher good of the country. And since the Supreme Court hearings about the publication had made a fair trial impossible, he dclared a mistrial and dismissed the charges. Ellsberg struggled with the decision before releasing the papers. It wasn't something done frivilously.

His statement to the press as he walked out of the courtroom a free man...

"If my greatest act of patriotism was treason, so be it..."
 
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