SANTA BARBARA, California -- Arguing with an icon is a loser's game. In America, Daniel Ellsberg is certainly a political and antiwar icon. But I do have a quarrel with him, and it is so serious that I'll take my chances.
It is absolutely unquestionable that Ellsberg's brave decision to leak a U.S. study of the Vietnam War to the news media more than four decades ago is an example of a profile in courage. For without that risk-taking leak, the tragic U.S. war in Vietnam probably would have dragged on longer.
This past weekend in Santa Barbara, California, Ellsberg, the still-modest (but tough!) leftist icon, now 74, was honored with the 2005 Distinguished Peace Leader award by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. The ballroom of the Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort in Santa Barbara was packed with admirers, from the local community and afar. The NAPF, which prioritizes the abolition of nuclear weapons, is a very well-respected West Coast nonprofit organization.