NZ International Film Festival 2010: The Most Dangerous Man in America

The Most Dangerous Man in America
Director: Judith Ehrlich & Rick Goldsmith

The manner in which America lied to the public about Vietnam, the fake Gulf of Tonkin attack the reasons they were in Vietnam, their focused strategy to escalate while publicly declaring they were attempting to find peace - the entire puss filled hateful lie that was the American war in Vietnam was written in all it's horrific truth by an official internal top secret 7000 page report called the Pentagon Papers that was never supposed to be made public.

But it was made public.

This doco follows Daniel Ellsberg, the man Kissinger called 'the most dangerous man in America' after Ellsberg released to the New York Times copies of the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg who was originally in favour of the war and who worked for the Pentagon as a war strategist gained access to the Pentagon Papers via the Rand Corporation think tank he went to work for after he left the military.

His shock at discovering the truth and his personal realization that he, as an individual was responsible for enabling the war, forced a change and a decision to make the Pentagon Papers available to the newspapers. Nixon in response gagged the New York Times leading to a string of newspapers to pick up printing the papers where the previous had been gagged. The Administration conceded but went after Ellsberg in Court.

It was during the trial of that evidence emerged that Nixon's fix it men broke into Ellsberg's psychologists business to steal Ellsberg's file. It also emerged that these same fix it men were linked to a break in at the Watergate Hotel. The Judge threw the case out because the Government had prejudiced their chances of any possible win.

Ellsberg's example and strength of personal honour is a wonder to behold.

4 stars