Daniel Ellsberg and Pentagon Papers

Introduction Whistle-blowing is the act, for an employee or former employee, of disclosing what he believes or thinks to be unethical or illegal behavior to higher management or to an external authority or the public (Bouville, 2008). Some see whistle-blowers as traitors or violators of organizational loyalty norms while other thinks as heroic defenders who considered values more important over companys loyalty. The present case study focuses on one such historical event of whistle blowing from 1970s and 80s of United States. In this, a United States military analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, released the secret documents of US army to New York Times newspaper. Pentagon Papers The pentagon papers were the secret government documents about the Indochina policy from 1940 to 1968. It consists of 7000 papers bounded into 70 volumes. Pentagon Papers contains the historical study, but officials were worried that if the information contained in the Pentagon Papers will became public, then it would make foreign governments hesitant to provide secret assistance to the United States government (Linder, 2011). Also, it provides the statistical information about the Vietnam War. It contains the internal records and planning of U.S government regarding the Vietnam War. These papers show the study that America is most likely not to win the Vietnam War, but still have plans to expand war zone. The government knows that they have no chance, still from past decades; they were fighting and resulting in causalities of human lives (Olson, 1996). Also the government was lying about the scope and aims about the war. (Ellsberg, 2006) Background of Events

Daniel Ellsberg and Pentagon Papers

Daniel Ellsberg is the former United States military analyst who worked for the RAND Corporation. He was one of the researchers who contributed to the study of Vietnam War which was included in Pentagon Papers. While preparing study of Vietnam War, Daniel found that United Nations needs to stop War to prevent further loses. He found that something is happening wrong and eventually found it in the form of Pentagon papers. After reading the complete documentation, he becomes strong opponent of Vietnam War. It became clear to Ellsberg in midsummer 1969 that President Nixon had no intention of stopping or pulling out of Vietnam. So now Ellsberg convinced that it if Pentagon Papers will get exposed that skeptic public might put pressure on governments and will eventually end the involvement of United States in Vietnam War (Linder, 2011). Initially, Daniel approaches various congressmen to talk about the truth but nothing useful resulted. So finally he approached Neil Sheehan of New York Times newspaper and gave copy of pentagon papers to him ("Daniel ellsberg," 2013). Daniel Ellsberg was aware of that if he exposes secret documents then he will be behind the bars. Although what Daniel did was illegal but he was morally right. Later New York Times and Washington post published some papers. For this, Ellsberg was charged for theft and conspiracy. But later, charges on Ellsberg were dismissed. Impact of this leak leads to fallout of administration. Also people started doubting administrations intentions. Also later war came to end (Liptak, 2011). Ethical Dilemma In this case of Pentagon Papers, the dilemma was between maintaining the secrecy of top secret documents and exposing political deceit. The papers revealed that what government was telling public was totally wrong about the war. The administration was claiming that they dont want further war but the administration had plans to attack on other sites. On the one hand

Daniel Ellsberg and Pentagon Papers government was saying, they dont want to send more army troops to war but on the other hand, documents revealed that they were sending more troops. (Liptak, 2006)

The administration was hiding information from public. This information was crucial for the many lives lost at the Vietnam War. The Administration should have stopped War after reading that information. The documents revealed that the United States is fighting for nothing. Thousands of American and Vietnamese died due to this war. The government was not stopping their decision of involvement in Vietnam War which was a bad decision and also immoral because various lives were at stake. The government was lying to the public in terms of their aims and intentions which is not ethical as in democracy. The public is supposed to know because their families were fighting at the war front. If we see Daniel Ellsberg viewpoint then morally what he has done is right but it was against the law. He was supposed to keep information secret but he turned out to be whistleblower. Ellsberg gives more importance to subjective responsibility than objective responsibility. He was thinking of the lives lost at the Vietnam War which was happening at that time and wanted to stop it. Also the information he exposed can lead to security leaks at the United States. However, Ellsberg thought about the public interest in accordance with the Utilitarianism. He goes for the greater cause with leaking confidential information. Conclusion . Whistle blowing can be both good as well as it may harm to an organization. The main factor is the motive of the employee or formal employee behind blowing the whistle. If it is for genuine reason means for the public interest than it is good. However, if the employee does it for personal interest or against someone or company than it is both morally wrong and illegal.

Daniel Ellsberg and Pentagon Papers