Forwarded message:
From: Anthony J. Russo,Jr. <AnthonyJoseph@email.msn.com>
Date: Tuesday, June 13, 2000 1:39 AM
Subject: press release:29th anniversary of 1st day of publication of the
Pentagon Papers on June 13,1971
by Anthony Joseph Russo
Pentagon Papers Peace Project
P.O.Box 1034
Suffolk, VA 23439-1034
757-539 6432
truso037@aol.com
AnthonyJoseph@msn.com
http://www.PentagonPapersTRusso.com
On St. Anthony's Day (June 13) of 1971 a political "big bang"
occurred: the first day of publication of the Pentagon Papers,
an extensive secret government archive (7000 pages)
detailing the US relationship with Viet Nam from 1945 through
1968. It was a "big bang" because the contents were at great
odds with the statements made by one US President after
another. For decades our leaders had been lying as we paid
a great price in blood and treasure. People like me had
volunteered for service in Viet Nam because we had been
told America was defending freedom and independence. We
put our lives on the line to combat tyranny. The truth turned
out to be the opposite: the US had fabricated a "government",
placed it in power and goaded it to provoke the legitimate
government rooted in the 100-year anti colonial struggle.My
work as a field ops person in the Rand strategic intelligence
project resulted in my collection of information that was the
opposite of what the US "party line" was.
The Pentagon Papers "big bang" led to a series of events
that would forever change America. The Nixon people were
so threatened by the great outbreak of truth that they
organized a goon squad, the Plumbers to go after me and
Ellsberg (We both took responsibility for liberating the
Pentagon Papers.) as well as others. The Plumbers were
caught at the Watergate; as well, they were exposed at the trial
resulting from my civil disobedience: the 15 count Ellsberg-
Russo Pentagon Papers Trial, known as the 1st amendment
trial of the century. They were shown to have broken into Dr.
Fielding's office in search of documentation of Ellsberg's
psychological state. The Fielding burglary was more important
than the Watergate burglary in bringing about Nixon's demise.
The key to the defeat of Nixon was the 15-count trial of
Ellsberg and I: first, the fact that the trial occurred at all;
second, the amazing victory that we achieved.
Ellsberg had been charged with a 2-count indictment shortly
after the publication of the Papers: (1) taking the papers, and
(2) purveying the Papers. I had been subpoenaed to the
federal grand jury. I was jailed because I exercised my
Constitutional right not to speak. Had I testified before the
grand jury Ellsberg would have been nailed and Nixon would
have not only survived, he would have soared. My refusal to
testify resulted in the second indictment. The Ellsberg Trial
never happened.
The issues are still the same today: secrecy in government
is too broad allowing our public servants to engage in unwise,
inhumane and illegal interventions. Americans still need to
educate themselves about our longest war: the American War
in Indochina often called the "Vietnam War".
The Pentagon Papers set a precedent for the public's right
to, and need to know. Looking at the content of the Pentagon
Papers it is clear that the public should have had that
information from the beginning.
In spite of the clear evidence in the Pentagon Papers that
American policy was "wrong, terribly wrong" as Secretary
McNamara so correctly and helpfully stated in recent years,
our government continued the Nixon policy by carrying on a
covert war against Viet Nam for 20 years after the War was
supposedly over in 1975. This was called the "Third Indochina
War" though few Americans knew about it, the press being
mostly silent. Clearly then the Pentagon Papers need to be
updated to cover the 1968-2000 period.
The Third Indochina War had several dimensions:
(1) US collaboration with China against Viet Nam,
(2) US collaboration with the genocidal Pol Pot against
Viet Nam,
(3) US embargo against Viet Nam,
(4) US covert action against Viet Nam,
(5) US psychological warfare against the American people,
e.g., the POW/MIA hoax, and
(6) the terror campaign carried out in the US by the old
Saigon political terror apparatus (the so-called South
Vietnamese government we supported in Viet Nam for
25 years) which assassinated several people every
year for over a decade. Professor Edward Cooperman
of Cal St. Fullerton was one of their victims. He was
killed for his humanitarian cooperation with Vietnamese
scientists like Professor Ton That Tung, world renowned
liver surgeon and expert on diseases due to Agent
Orange and dioxin.
The recent national discussion of the 25th anniversary of the
"fall of Saigon" completely ignored the fact that the War did
did not end but continued on as the Third Indochina War for
another 20 years. Again, the Pentagon Papers need to be
updated.
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