Daniel
Ellsberg is a former American military analyst who became the most well-known
whistle-blower in 1971 when he released he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret
Pentagon study about secret US policies during the Vietnam war, first to members
of the US Senate, and then to the news media. This action caused the public to
turn against the war opinion, and it also caused him to face a sentence of more
than 100 years in prison. After President Nixon's administration was caught illegally
raiding Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office as part of the Watergate scandal, the
case against Ellsberg was dismissed. For the past 35 years, Ellsberg has continued
to be a leading voice through writing, lecturing and nonviolent protests in support
of government accountability, peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. Strongly
believing that truth-telling is the most courageous and patriotic way to serve
our country, in 2004 Daniel Ellsberg launched the Truth-Telling Project, urging
insiders to come forth about government lies and cover-ups before the US becomes
involved in another war. The following year the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation awarded
their first Fellowship to Daniel Ellsberg for his lifetime commitment of working
for peace, nuclear disarmament, and truth-telling. In 2006 he received the Right
Livelihood Award (often called the “Alternative Nobel Prize”) “for putting peace
and truth first, at considerable personal risk, and dedicating his life to a movement
to free the world from the risk of nuclear war.”
