Former CIA, State Department and Pentagon Officials Call on Current Government Employees to Blow Whistle on Bush's Iraq War Deceptions

Interview with Daniel Ellsberg, former government employee who released the "Pentagon Papers," conducted by Scott Harris

More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, as deepening chaos and violence claim tens of thousands of Iraqi victims. Now, a group of former FBI, CIA, State Department and Pentagon officials are calling on current government employees to come forward and reveal classified information regarding the Bush administration's Iraq war plans and the estimated costs of the conflict that contradict public statements made by the White House.

The group, which includes FBI special agent and whistle blower Coleen Rowley, former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, retired U.S. Army colonel and foreign service officer Ann Wright and Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst for 27 years, warns that like during the Vietnam war, the failure to publicly disclose government deceptions and cover-ups about the projected costs of the Iraq war carries with it a significant price in human life and national security. The signatories state that truth-telling is a patriotic duty and an effective way to serve the nation.

Daniel Ellsberg was a career U.S. government political analyst when, in 1971, he leaked the now famous "Pentagon Papers" to the press, which bolstered public opposition to the Vietnam War. The 47-volume Defense Department internal study of the U.S. role in Southeast Asian conflicts over three decades was classified "top secret." The documents chronicled the lies and deceit employed by government officials to justify U.S. military intervention in the region's wars. Ellsberg, originally a strong supporter of the Vietnam War, became a committed opponent, risking his career and freedom when he released these documents to the New York Times. Between The Lines spoke with Daniel Ellsberg about his group's call for whistleblowers to come forward to reveal how the Bush administration has misled the nation on the war in Iraq.

Get more information on the call for government whistle blowers by visiting Ellsberg's website at www.truthtellingproject.org

Related links:

Ellsberg's book, "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers" is published by Viking. Visit his website at www.ellsberg.net

"Cracks in the Empire: Compilation of insiders who have taken aim at Bush's Iraq Policy," by Anna Manzo and Scott Harris, Toward Freedom, Summer 2004

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