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“Beyond Unfortunate,” “Betrayal,” “Reprehensible,” “Treason.” Those are the words of military officials, members of Congress, and President Obama, prompted by the publication of close to 80,000 leaked classified war documents by WikiLeaks last month. It is the most controversial release of leaked documents since the Pentagon Papers, and in fact, in sheer size and scope, the biggest such leak in US history. The bundle of documents – field reports by troops from January 2004 to December 2009 – has been dubbed by WikiLeaks as “The Afghan War Diaries.” The online whistleblowing site is in the process of doing a line-by-line review of the remaining 15,000 unpublished Afghan War Diary documents to ensure that identities of informants working with the US military are protected. However the US government has called on Wikileaks to stop the planned release of the new documents and return them to the Pentagon, saying the organization is putting lives at risk. Despite its outrage, the government’s legal options for shutting-down Wikileaks are limited. The Washington Post advised against prosecuting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his organization under the Espionage Act, noting that the legal argument would be weak, as Wikileaks did not obtain the documents through theft or spying. In a separate editorial in the Post, columnist Marc Thiessen wrote that the US government should pursue a “cyber” option against Wikileaks, by employing any number of tactics to prohibit public access to the website. A US soldier, Private Bradley Manning, is being held in solitary confinement awaiting trial for leaking video footage from Iraq dubbed “collateral murder” to WikiLeaks earlier in the year. There is speculation that Private Manning also leaked the Afghan War Diary documents. It was reported last week that he has been under suicide watch.

The man who leaked the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, was on the radio the day after the Afghan War Diary was published. Speaking on Democracy Now, Ellsberg said “what I read in these documents is …that they’re …pretty close to what I was reading, and in some cases writing, in Vietnam, when I was there forty, forty-five years ago. It really confirms what I’ve been saying for seven years, that we are involved in what I think of as Vietnamistan.” In a few minutes we’ll be joined live on the phone by Dan Ellsberg, but first we want to play you an excerpt of the Academy Award nominated documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America, which is what Henry Kissenger dubbed Ellsberg. The highly-acclaimed film is the definitive story of Ellsberg’s journey from war strategist to antiwar activist through his leaking of the Pentagon Papers and how it helped to end the Vietnam war.

Thank you Gifts:

The Most Dangerous Man in America – DVD – $120

WikiLeaks Afghan War Diary on KPFK USB Travel Drive – $100

Whistleblowers Pack – DVD and Traveldrive – $200

Call KPFK at 818-985-5735 (KPFK) to make a pledge or visit www.kpfk.org.