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About the Truth-Telling
Project
The
Truth-Telling Project encourages whistleblowing in the national interest. It
urges current and recently retired government officials to reveal the truth to
Congress and the public about governmental wrongdoing, lies and cover-up. It
aims to change the norms and practices that sustain the cult of secrecy, and to
de-legitimize silence that costs lives.
It is becoming increasingly clear
that a dominant practice of the Bush administration is cover-up, on urgent
matters of life and death. Cover-up of the real motives for the war and of the
foreseeable costs and problems of the occupation. Cover-up of Presidential
inattention before 9-11 to warnings of imminent attacks by Al Qaeda. Above all,
concealment of the judgment of the Administration’s own counter-terrorism chiefs
that war in Iraq is a disaster for the war on terrorism. The latest dramatic
example is the classification of investigative reports and photographs on
torture at Abu Ghraib, which would still be unknown were it not for their
unauthorized disclosure.
There are surely hundreds if not thousands of
officials within the Bush administration who know about these and other
cover-ups and the dangers they conceal, but who have not spoken out. I am now
leading an effort, called the Truth-Telling Project, to encourage such insiders
to go to Congress and the press and tell the truth, with documents.
I believe we are in a national crisis, which justifies and requires acts
of unauthorized truth-telling. I am calling for such patriotic whistle-blowing
to take place right now, before the election, while such revelations can help
voters make informed decisions.
For at least the next six months, I am
devoting myself full-time to encouraging patriotic revelation of the lies,
cover-ups, and abuses of the Bush administration. The Truth-Telling Project aims
to reach current insiders, as well as journalists, lawyers, lawmakers, and the
American public with a message transcending party or administration:
Truth-telling to Congress and the public is not disloyal in America: it
is an expression of the higher loyalty officials owe to the Constitution, the
rule of law, and the sovereign public. It is a courageous, patriotic, and
effective way to serve our country. The time to speak out is now.
Daniel
Ellsberg, August 2004