Daniel Ellsberg: ‘I’m Sure That President Obama Would Have Sought A Life Sentence In My Case’

[polly7]

By Daniel Ellsberg and Timothy B. Lee

Source: Washington Post Tuesday, July 02, 2013

In 1971, an American military analyst named Daniel Ellsberg gave a New York Times reporter a copy of “United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense,” a multi-volume work that became known as the Pentagon Papers. The massive, classified study painted a candid and unflattering portrait of the military’s conduct of the Vietnam War. The Supreme Court rejected the government’s request for an injunction against its publication later that year in a 6-3 ruling.

Ellsberg became the first person prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act for releasing classified information to the public. But the case was thrown out after the judge learned that the government had engaged in the illegal wiretapping of Ellsberg and other misconduct.

Today, Ellsberg is one of the most outspoken critics of the Obama administration’s prosecution of leakers. Under President Obama’s tenure, the government has prosecuted six individuals for releasing classified information to media organizations.

Ellsberg is particularly fierce in his support of Bradley Manning, a young soldier who released a large amount of classified information to WikiLeaks. Manning was arrested in 2010, and his military court-martial began this week. Ellsberg considers Manning a hero, and he argues that there is little difference between what Manning did in 2010 and what Ellsberg did four decades earlier. We spoke by phone on Friday. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Full Transcript: http://www.zcommunications.org/daniel-ellsberg-i-m-sure-that-president-obama-would-have-sought-a-life-sentence-in-my-case-by-daniel-ellsberg

[Autumn]

1. I'm sure of that too.

rec

[graham4anything]

2. Had people not voted for Richard Nixon, the war would have ended 6 years earlier. nt

[Ed Suspicious]

3. apropos of nothing

[graham4anything]

4. appropos of everything.

[still_one]

6. absolutely it is everything. It is amazing how they setup Obama as the straw dog, but ignore the

fact that every previous president would have done the same thing. Whether people recognize that or not, the fact is, it is their fault for opening this box. The bush administration never lied about what they were going to do, and people still voted for him, and in fact supported it, with the media's backing.

Now they blame Obama for all the problems they actually created

[still_one]

5. and so would have any other administration, Democrat or republican including FDR. Lets forget

perspective though, that would be painting "Obama" as the villain, and defeat the purpose.

and where are the people who allowed this to happen in 2000?

They voted for bush twice, and at least at present, people do not really care

[graham4anything]

7. and they well know, tearing down Obama will lead to Jeb Bush in 2016.

which must be what Ellsberg wants.
Because all the 1968 protests ended up doing was tearing down LBJ and electing Richard Nixon.

It certainly didn't end the war.
LBJ would indeed have done that in 1968

in fact, all the protests did was lead to 6 more years of war in Vietnam.

and btw, had their not been techinicalities, it wouldn't have been only a life sentence. Most likely Nixon would have
attempted a higher sentence than that.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. And Donald Trump would have had him executed on television.

[polly7]

9. Yep, and some here would be wetting their pants in glee. See above. nt.

[Doctor_J]

10. The entire right-wing universe, including its intersection with DU, now uses "leaker"

instead of whistleblower. It is astonishing how quickly and completely far right group think permeates the universe these days

[struggle4progress]

11. I think Mr Ellsberg is showing signs of senility

[Enrique]

12. you got him!

let that be a lesson for anyone who sides with losers like Snowden

[Enrique]

13. i'm sensing a pattern

"I love Ellsberg, but the dude is getting OLD..."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023198589#post5

Sometimes age has deleterious effects on a person no matter their past.

[struggle4progress]

14. Mr Ellsberg's statement makes no sense: the current President

was not yet ten years old at the time Ellsberg exposed the Pentagon Papers. Back then, Hoover was still in control of the FBI and used the agency to disrupt political movements he disliked and to discredit people he thought threatened his power. Nixon, then in the White House, was engaged in a variety of ugly activities, such as using the IRS to harass his political opponents

Mr Ellsberg is, of course, free to dislike Mr Obama. But Ellsberg's statement is nonsensical because it is impossible to imagine Mr Obama as President in 1971, just as it is impossible to imagine that there would be much outrage if somebody in 2013 leaked a now forty-some year old study of the relations between the US and Vietnam covering 1964-1967

[Amonester]

15. Ellsberg will so enjoy the oRangeman/tuRtleman Regime that will be installed by

the super-majority of repukes this non-stop hair-on-fire babble fest will lead to (impeachment in 2015).

DU will be back to the good 'ole DU (underground).

[LiberalAndProud]

16. Ellsberg has been consistently on the side of transparency.

Thirty years after the Nixon administration, Ellsberg compared the Wilson Scandal to the Nixon era. "I believe this situation is exactly parallel, "Ellsberg said. "By trying to punish him and his wife, they're trying to intimidate those who might be thinking about coming forward."

http://www.lib.washington.edu/SouthEastAsia/vsg/elist_2003/ellsberg-bush.html

Obama seems to think that establishing the FISA court has addressed the transparency concerns. I can't agree.