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john kiriakou
'You'll Be Hearing From Me as Long as I'm Here,' Daniel Ellsberg Vows After Terminal Cancer Diagnosis
"I work better under a deadline. It turns out that I live better under a deadline," the Pentagon Papers whistleblower quipped.
Mar 02, 2023
Daniel Ellsberg, whose leaking of the Pentagon Papers and decades of anti-war activity have inspired generations of whistleblowers and activists, said Wednesday that he has terminal cancer, but that there's "tons more" movement work for him to do before he's gone.
The former nuclear war planner-turned-disarmament campaigner, who is 91 years old, notified friends and supporters in an email Wednesday morning that he had "difficult news to impart":
On February 17, without much warning, I was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer on the basis of a CT scan and an MRI... I'm sorry to report to you that my doctors have given me three to six months to live. Of course, they emphasize that everyone's case is individual; it might be more, or less.
Ellsberg, who will not undergo chemotherapy—he says it "offers no promise"—wrote that he is "not in any physical pain."
"In fact, after my hip replacement surgery in late 2021, I feel better physically than I have in years," he said.
"As I just told my son Robert: He's long known (as my editor) that I work better under a deadline. It turns out that I live better under a deadline," he quipped.
\u201cI'm trying to take this in. @DanielEllsberg changed my life when I spent 10 days at his home interviewing him in 2015. He is one of America\u2019s greatest heroes & intellectuals. His message must be carried on. He never lost hope. Please read his words. https://t.co/BSse5MMQaB\u201d— Arn Menconi (he/him) (@Arn Menconi (he/him)) 1677724185
Whistleblowers and activists hailed a man one anti-nuclear campaigner called "a change-maker, a disrupter, and an icon."
RootsAction co-founder and director Norman Solomon, a longtime friend and collaborator, told Common Dreams that "words can't really convey what Dan Ellsberg has meant to the world, and along the way what he has been wonderfully giving to countless people he has reached out to and who've reached out to him."
"In public, he has been a beacon of integrity and truth, willing to say and do what the warmakers and nuclear-holocaust planners find completely unacceptable," he added. "In private, his thoughtful kindness and daily commitment to humanity are central to his being. And I want to emphasize right now that nothing in the world is more important to read and heed than Dan's monumental book The Doomsday Machine."
"I want to emphasize right now that nothing in the world is more important to read and heed than Dan's monumental book The Doomsday Machine."
John Kiriakou, the former CIA case officer and analyst who was jailed after he revealed U.S. torture in the so-called War on Terror, wrote on his Substack that "after my arrest in 2012 after blowing the whistle on the CIA's torture program, it was Dan who talked sense to me and convinced me that I was stronger than I realized."
"It was thanks to him that I didn't do something drastic," he added. "And then when I was serving 23 months in prison, Dan wrote to me religiously, sent books, and offered his friendship and encouragement. I love the guy. This is a blow for all Americans."
In Wednesday's email, Ellsberg reflected upon his life and work:
When I copied the Pentagon Papers in 1969, I had every reason to think I would be spending the rest of my life behind bars. It was a fate I would gladly have accepted if it meant hastening the end of the Vietnam War, unlikely as that seemed (and was). Yet in the end, that action—in ways I could not have foreseen, due to [then-President Richard] Nixon's illegal responses—did have an impact on shortening the war. In addition, thanks to Nixon's crimes, I was spared the imprisonment I expected, and I was able to spend the last 50 years with Patricia and my family, and with you, my friends.
"What's more," he continued, "I was able to devote those years to doing everything I could think of to alert the world to the perils of nuclear war and wrongful interventions: lobbying, lecturing, writing, and joining with others in acts of protest and nonviolent resistance."
"I wish I could report greater success for our efforts," Ellsberg lamented. "As I write, 'modernization' of nuclear weapons is ongoing in all nine states that possess them (the U.S. most of all). Russia is making monstrous threats to initiate nuclear war to maintain its control over Crimea and the Donbas—like the dozens of equally illegitimate first-use threats that the U.S. government has made in the past to maintain its military presence in South Korea, Taiwan, South Vietnam, and (with the complicity of every member state then in NATO ) West Berlin."
"The current risk of nuclear war, over Ukraine, is as great as the world has ever seen," he emphasized just over a year into Russia's invasion.
"It is long past time—but not too late!—for the world's publics at last to challenge and resist the willed moral blindness of their past and current leaders," Ellsberg argued. "I will continue, as long as I'm able, to help these efforts.
Indeed, Ellsberg is scheduled to speak Thursday with Noam Chomsky at a Nuclear Age Peace Foundation webinar about the dangers of nuclear war during Russia's invasion of Ukraine
\u201cHappening Today - Honored to moderate this conversation on "Nuclear Dangers: The Ukraine War One Year Later" with Noam Chomsky @DanielEllsberg @rfalk13 @IvanaNHughes @napf Still time to register: https://t.co/evGb9obYLS\u201d— Cynthia Lazaroff (@Cynthia Lazaroff) 1677772146
"There's tons more to say about Ukraine and nuclear policy, of course," Ellsberg added, "and you'll be hearing from me as long as I'm here."
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On 9/11 Anniversary, Anti-War Group Says 'Cut the Pentagon for People, Planet, and Peace'
"We must learn from the horrifying consequences of U.S. war and begin down a path towards peace."
Sep 10, 2021
As the United States prepares to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on Saturday, the women-led peace group CodePink is set to launch a new campaign this weekend featuring a webinar and White House rally "to reflect on the lessons of 9/11" and the so-called War on Terror that followed--and continues to this day.
On Saturday at 3:00 pm ET, CodePink and Massachusetts Peace Action will host "Never Forget: 9/11 and the 20-Year War on Terror," a webinar examining how "9/11 fundamentally altered the culture of the United States and its relationship with the rest of the world."
Scheduled webinar speakers include CodePink co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, War on Terror whistleblowers John Kiriakou and Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, anti-war veterans Matthew Hoh and Danny Sjursen, RootsAction national director Norman Solomon, authors Vijay Prashad and Moustafa Bayoumi, and others.
\u201cWe can't afford to pretend that the War on Terror never happened. We must learn from the horrifying consequences of US war & begin down a path towards peace.\n\nJoin @CODEPINK & @MassPeaceAction this Saturday, Sep. 11th, as we reflect on 20 years of US war. https://t.co/43njqEzLpd\u201d— CODEPINK (@CODEPINK) 1631233901
CodePink writes:
In the name of freedom, and of vengeance, the United States invaded and occupied Afghanistan. We stayed for 20 years. With lies of 'weapons of mass destruction' a majority of the country was convinced to invade and occupy Iraq, the worst foreign policy decision of the modern era. The executive branch was given sweeping authority to make war across borders and without limits.
The conflict in the Middle East expanded under both Republican and Democratic presidents, leading to U.S. wars in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, and more. Trillions of dollars were spent. Millions of lives were lost. We created the greatest migration and refugee crisis since World War II.
9/11 was also used as an excuse to change the relationship of the U.S. government to its citizens. In the name of safety the national security state was given expansive surveillance powers, threatening privacy and civil liberties. The Department of Homeland Security was created and with it ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Words like 'enhanced interrogation,' a euphemism for torture, entered the American lexicon and the Bill of Rights was tossed aside.
On Sunday, CodePink, Food Not Bombs, and other partners will rally outside the White House at 3:00 pm ET to launch a new 100-day national campaign to Cut the Pentagon for the People, Planet, Peace, and a Future, featuring a teach-in and the cutting and sharing of a Pentagon-shaped cake and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Participants will then march to McPherson Square to feed unhoused residents "from the cuttings off the Pentagon."
\u201cAfter 20 years of destructive & murderous war in Afghanistan, it's time for the US to choose the path of PEACE.\n\nJoin CODEPINK, @WorldBeyondWar, @IPS_DC & @PeoplesForumNYC this Sunday as we launch the campaign to #CutThePentagon! Join us in the streets >>> https://t.co/A0QIWw0Z7q\u201d— CODEPINK (@CODEPINK) 1631223645
"Just like CodePink's first vigil in front of the White House in 2002, we'll use this event to begin to organize the movement we need to take on the war profiteers who oppose us at every turn," Evans said in a statement. "When we cut the Pentagon cake and feed our community in front of the White House, we'll be enacting the peace economy we want to create. By nourishing ourselves and everyone around us we'll be modeling the exact opposite of a destructive and extractive war economy."
"While war profiteers might have the money, we have the people power."
--Carley Towne, CodePink
CodePink national director Carley Towne said that "while war profiteers might have the money, we have the people power. Starting on September 12, we will be in the streets building an intersectional movement to cut the Pentagon budget and begin holding our congressional representatives accountable for pouring trillions of dollars into war while neglecting the needs of the people."
Benjamin noted that "after spending two decades and $21 trillion on the United States' so-called 'War on Terror,' people are waking up to what we've been saying all along: We can't continue down the path of deadly, destructive, and costly U.S. militarism."
"Peace activists," she added, "need to use this moment to rally around a simple yet powerful demand that cuts across all movements for social justice: Cut the Pentagon for people, planet, and peace."
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As Drone Whistleblower Daniel Hale Pleads Guilty, Advocates Warn of 'Profound Threat' to Free Press
"Using the Espionage Act in this way to prosecute journalists' sources as spies chills newsgathering and discourages sources from coming forward with information in the public interest."
Apr 02, 2021
Press freedom, peace, and human rights advocates are rallying behind Daniel Hale, the former intelligence analyst who blew the whistle on the U.S. government's drone assassination program, and who pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to violating the Espionage Act.
"The U.S. government's policy of punishing people who provide journalists with information in the public interest is a profound threat to free speech, free press, and a healthy democracy."
--Jesselyn Radack,
Hale's attorney
The Washington Postreports Hale, who was set to go on trial next week, pleaded guilty to a single count of violating the 1917 law that has been used to target whistleblowers including Julian Assange, John Kiriakou, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Jeffrey Sterling, Reality Winner, and others.
Hale was charged in 2019 during the Trump administration after he leaked classified information on the U.S. government's targeted assassination program to a reporter, who according to court documents, matches the description of The Intercept founding editor Jeremy Scahill. He is the first person to face sentencing for an Espionage Act offense during the administration of President Joe Biden.
As vice president under President Barack Obama, Biden contributed to the creation of whistleblower protections in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, while simultaneously serving in an administration that, while promising "a new era of open government," relentlessly targeted individuals who revealed U.S. war crimes and other classified information.
\u201cOutrageous that drone whistleblower Daniel Hale will be going to prison for exposing the drone murders by the US military. Why don't the murderers go to jail? Or the ones who ok the murders? Or the ones who make the killer drones and profit from murder? https://t.co/bD6kXP26Gp\u201d— Medea Benjamin (@Medea Benjamin) 1617290886
Kiriakou--a former CIA agent who under Obama was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment for exposing U.S. torture--told Kevin Gosztola that he is "dissapointed that Daniel Hale's case was continued in the Biden Justice Department."
"I had hopes that Biden's Justice Department appointee would recognize the public service that Daniel Hale provided when he revealed illegality and abuse in the drone program," said Kiriakou.
Hale, who was an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Air Force before moving on to the National Security Agency and then the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, "knowingly took highly classified documents and disclosed them without authorization, thereby violating his solemn obligations to our country," according to a statement from Raj Parekh, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
\u201cShame on the Obama DOJ for launching this investigation, shame on the Trump DOJ for bringing these charges, and shame on the Biden DOJ for continuing it\n\nWe stand with Daniel Hale. As do countless journalists, whistleblowers, former government officials\n\nhttps://t.co/YYxH9yDlJn\u201d— Defending Rights & Dissent (@Defending Rights & Dissent) 1617208495
\u201cUsing the Espionage Act in this way to prosecute journalists\u2019 sources as spies chills newsgathering and discourages sources from coming forward with information in the public interest \u2014 particularly when it relates to national security, where government secrecy is at its height.\u201d— Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (@Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press) 1617232895
According to Gosztola, Hale's whistleblowing led to the revelation by The Intercept that "nearly half of the people on the U.S. government's widely shared database of terrorist suspects are not connected to any known terrorist group," details on how the Obama administration approved targeted assassinations, and information about Bilal el-Berjawi, a Briton "who was stripped of his citizenship before being killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2012."
The Post reports that Hale admitted in court to writing an anonymous chapter in Scahill's 2016 book, The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government's Secret Drone Warfare Program, which divulged information taken from top-secret documents about drone strike protocols, civilian casualties, and Pentagon officials' debate about the accuracy of intelligence.
"These documents detailed a secret, unaccountable process for targeting and killing people around the world, including U.S. citizens, through drone strikes," Betsy Reed, editor-in-chief of The Intercept, said after Hale's indictment. "They are of vital public importance, and activity related to their disclosure is protected by the First Amendment."
\u201c"The U.S. government\u2019s policy of punishing people who provide journalists with information in the public interest is a profound threat to free speech, free press, and a healthy democracy." -- #DanielHale's lawyer @JesselynRadack on Hale's guilty plea\n\nhttps://t.co/D8SAkqGWd3\u201d— Courage Foundation (@Courage Foundation) 1617289633
\u201cDaniel Hale was my roommate when we were in the Air Force. A kind and caring person who promised his life in defense of this nation and its values.\n\nThe people conducting secret illegal killings in other countries are criminals.\n\nStanding up for human rights makes Daniel a hero.\u201d— Jon Ivy \uff08\u827e\u68ee\uff09 (@Jon Ivy \uff08\u827e\u68ee\uff09) 1617327863
Hale had initially centered his defense on First Amendment grounds, and his numerous defenders condemned his prosecution as a violation of press freedom and freedom of speech. His lawyer, Jesselyn Radack, issued a statement saying "the U.S. government's policy of punishing people who provide journalists with information in the public interest is a profound threat to free speech, free press, and a healthy democracy."
"Classified information is published in the press every day; in fact, the biggest leaker of classified information is the U.S. government," wrote Radack. "However, the Espionage Act is used uniquely to punish those sources who give journalists information that embarrasses the government or exposes its lies."
"Every whistleblower jailed under the Espionage Act is a threat to the work of national security journalists and the sources they rely upon to hold the government accountable," she added.
\u201cCourageous whistleblower Daniel Hale pleaded guilty yesterday to exposing the truth about US drone warfare. He should NOT be imprisoned for revealing the horrendous crimes perpetrated by the US government. #FreeDanielHale\n\nhttps://t.co/OqqtgFLbFP\u201d— CODEPINK (@CODEPINK) 1617315988
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the women-led peace group CodePink, tweeted that it's "outrageous that drone whistleblower Daniel Hale will be going to prison for exposing the drone murders by the U.S. military. Why don't the murderers go to jail? Or the ones who ok the murders? Or the ones who make the killer drones and profit from murder?"
Hale's sentencing is scheduled for July 13. He faces up to 10 years behind bars. Kiriakou told Gosztola that he hopes the judge "recognizes the good in what Daniel Hale has done and gives him the lightest possible sentence."
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