Monday, December 6, 2010

What papers, published by the New York times, revealed the systematic deception of the American people in regards to the Vietnam War?

Given all of the recent controversy over Wikileaks, I can think of few questions that would be more appropriate than this one right here.  This one comes off of our Pocket Trivia: U.S. History game: What papers, published by the New York times, revealed the systematic deception of the American people in regards to the Vietnam War?  Was it The Kissinger Compilation, The Defense Report, The Pentagon Papers or The Dreyfuss Report?

The correct answer would be The Pentagon Papers.  The Papers, published by the New York Times, was actually a Defense Department study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945-1967.  The study was put together by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.  It was leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, who had once worked on the report, to the New York Times.  It showed that four Presidential administrations had actually lied to the American public about the war and had expanded the war greater than was previously known, among other accusations.

The Nixon administration sued to stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers, fearing that its publication would set a bad precedent for future National Security leaks (sound fimiliar?).  The Nixon Administration obtained an injunction to stop the Papers publication, but the decision was overturned 6-3 in a U.S. Supreme Court decision, allowing the publication of the Papers to continue.

Others in the Nixon administration would later admit that the report was a classic example of "overclassification" and that there was never a threat to national security, so the parallel to Wikileaks is unclear - but nonetheless, certainly makes you think, doesn't it?

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