October 9, 2003
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417

AMHERST, Mass.-Daniel Ellsberg, the writer and activist who released the top-secret Pentagon Papers in 1971, will deliver a talk entitled "What Lies Ahead: Vietnam's Lessons for Iraq and the War on Terrorism" on Monday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in Johnson Chapel at Amherst College. The talk will be followed by a book signing and refreshments. All events are free and open to the public.

A Marine Corps veteran who became part of the U.S. Government's Defense and State Departments, Ellsberg worked on the RAND Corporation's 1967 McNamara study of U.S. decision-making in Vietnam. He later distributed the report to the New York Times and Washington Post, among other newspapers. His book about the affair, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, was reissued in paperback this past September.

Ellsberg will also speak about "Secrets and Lies: Nuclear Threats, Iraq and the War on Terror" in Wright Hall at Smith College on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Introductory remarks will be made by Veterans Education Project member and Vietnam veteran Cherie Rankin.

These events are organized by the Veterans Education Project in observance of Veterans Day. They are sponsored by the Smith College Government Department; the Amherst College History and Women's and Gender Studies Departments; Five College Peace and World Security Studies; the Mount Holyoke Politics Department; the UMass-Amherst Women's Studies Program; the Amherst College Democrats; and the Association of Amherst Students.

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