Posted on Nov 05, 2007

Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg visits campus Nov. 28

The CSUMB President's Speakers Series concludes this semester's presentations with a Nov. 28 visit by Dr. Daniel Ellsberg, the RAND Corp. analyst who, in 1971, leaked the classified Pentagon Papers to the New York Times.

The documents revealed the U.S. government had engaged in a pattern of deceiving the public about the number of Vietnam War casualties and the nation's ability to win the war. And they instantly validated the antiwar protest movement.

He'll be talking about his book, "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers," copies of which will be available for sale.

The papers - over 7,000 pages - revealed that every administration from Harry Truman's had falsely painted what was a civil war in Vietnam as a cold-war struggle between the free nations of the world and those under communist rule.

Dr. Ellsberg was arrested and put on trial, but the judge dismissed the charges against him due to improper governmental conduct that included evidence tampering and illegal wiretapping.

Since then, he has been a staunch opponent of nuclear weapons proliferation, an international advocate for peace and an early opponent of the Iraq War.

A question-and-answer session and book-signing will follow the talk.

Dr. Ellsberg's lecture will start at 7 p.m. in the World Theater on Sixth Avenue. It's free and open to the public; no tickets are necessary but reservations are strongly encouraged and can be made online at csumb.edu/speakers or by calling the World Theater box office at 582-4580 between noon and 4 p.m. To request disability accommodations, call 582-4189.

Driving directions and a campus map can be found at csumb.edu/map.

The President's Speakers Series will resume in February. Visit csumb.edu/speakers for updates.

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