Click2History - The Pentagon Papers - Chapter 3

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <tr> <td> <div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>THE PENTAGON PAPERS</p> <p><font size=4>CHAPTER 3 - LEAKS TO THE PRESS</font></p> </font> </div> <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">Government officials would claim the study, and all it revealed, should be kept secret. It would be against America’s national security to release such information. But Daniel Ellsberg and his colleague, Tony Russo, thought otherwise. At least Congress should be told. </p> <p>When it appeared the Congressional route would not be effective, Ellsberg <a href="http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people/Ellsberg/ells.QA99.leak.html" target="_blank"><b>approached</b></a> Neil Sheean, a <i>New York Times</i> reporter who had spent time in Vietnam. He was the only journalist <a href="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/156006692X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Ellsberg</b></a> thought he could trust. </p> <p>What Sheehan saw stunned him. It took three months for Arthur O. Sulzberger (owner of the newspaper) and his team of lawyers to read the documents and decide whether to break the story. They were concerned whether printing the top-secret material would violate any laws. </p> <p>Many of the "Pentagon Papers" are stored at the National Archives. Some of the more damaging documents are available on-line. Let’s examine them by three of the most controversial issues: </p> <ul> <li>Did the people of South Vietnam support the war?<br><br> <li>Did the Kennedy Administration know about the coup? <br><br> <li>Did the Johnson Administration lie about the Gulf of Tonkin? <br><br><br> </ul> </div> <p align="center"><font size="2"><a href="pentagon_papers_ch2.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="pentagon_papers_ch1.htm">BACK TO FIRST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="pentagon_papers_ch4.htm">GO TO NEXT CHAPTER</a></p><br> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body>