The Pentagon and its dark secrets
After being a recognized opponent of the war, Ellsberg and his partner Anthony Russol, photocopied the study on the history of US military political involvement. in the Vietnam War during those years, with the intention of publishing it, in October of 1969. Robert, the son of Ellsberg, told the press that he and his sister, being only teenagers, helped their father with the thousands of copies, cutting out the top secret words of the writings.
The main purpose of Ellsberg was to give the papers to legislators and members of the government, and with it, to put an end to what he understood to be an erroneous war, but before the indifference of the politicians, his determination was to go to the press. Ellsberg approached New York Times reporter Neil Sheehan and gave him 43 volumes in March 1971.
Writing with journalists who typewriter and trying to challenge a dilemma that could disturb the historical one is a very cinematic scene. If you add to that who will film is the renowned film director Steven Spielberg and in front of the lens will be Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, the appeal of the film doubles.
Translated as "The dark secrets of the Pentagon" or "The Pentagon archives", The Post is the film that aspires to two Oscars: best film and best leading actress.On this occasion, the production of Spielberg narrates the development of events that tensed the relationship between the media and the authorities to the point of putting in check the freedom of the press in the United States.
In June of 1971, the US government unconsciously faced the final stretch of its involvement in the Vietnam War. The war had caused a recondite division in a country where thousands of people had been protesting against the participation of the United States in a war that did not see its end and whose sole purpose had been to take the lives of young soldiers. Beginning in 1965, when the US Army started to bomb North Vietnam, anger and anger increased. The costs of the war increased, the number of victims also increased and the citizens began to question the justifications of the government to remain involved in such a distant war.
Daniel Ellsberg, an American military analyst, aware of the details of the war, began to participate in the anti-war marches beginning in 1969. His frustration increased in such a way that he made the decision that would mark his life: he copied thousands of secret documents that ended up coming to light, the well-known Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg was one of the people who had access to a study that detailed the history of US military-political involvement in Vietnam during those years, under the title "US-Vietnam Relations 1945-1967: study prepared by the Department of Defense".
The final work consisted of 3,000 pages of historical analysis and 4,000 pages of original government documents distributed in 47 volumes and classified as sensitive material, of which 15 copies were made. The documents basically showed how the governments of Presidents Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961), John Kennedy (1961-1963) and Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) extended the reach of their maneuvers in Vietnam without notifying the public.
The documents exposed the illegal behavior of a series of presidents, the violation of their oaths and that of all their subordinates. The Pentagon papers also reflected that the US motive to get involved in this war was not so much a humanitarian impulse towards South Vietnam but the use of conflict to contain the power and influence of China.