After 40 Years, the Complete Pentagon Papers - NYTimes.com
&ldquo;The re-release of the Pentagon Papers is very timely, if anyone were to read it,&rdquo; Dan Ellsberg,  the former RAND Corporation analyst who worked on the report and later  provided it to The Times said recently.
The NYT writes: &amp;#8220;He said they demonstrate the wisdom of giving war-making powers to  Congress &mdash; a power that he lamented has been increasingly usurped by the  executive branch.
&amp;#8216;It seems to me that what the Pentagon Papers really demonstrated 40  years ago was the price of that practice,&amp;#8217; Ellsberg said. &amp;#8216;Which is that  letting a small group of men in secret in the executive branch make  these decisions &mdash; initiate them secretly, carry them out secretly and  manipulate Congress, and lie to Congress and the public as to why  they&rsquo;re doing it and what they&rsquo;re doing &mdash; is a recipe for, a guarantee  of Vietnams and Iraqs and Libyas, and in general foolish, reckless,  dangerous policies.&amp;#8217;
Mr. Ellsberg said he wished more people would come forward to release  information that could stop these wars, praising Pfc. Bradley E.  Manning, the military intelligence analyst who is jailed on charges that  he leaked a trove of government files to Wikileaks.
&amp;#8216;If he did what he&rsquo;s accused of, then he&rsquo;s my hero, because I&rsquo;ve been  waiting for somebody to do that for 40 years,&amp;#8217; Mr. Ellsberg said. &amp;#8216;And  no one has.&amp;#8217;&rdquo;