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8 July 1911 

MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT: The ?Pentagon Papers?

I. Background

1. The set of documents that has become informally termed the
"Pentagon Papers" is in fact a study entitled ?United States-Vietnam
Relations 1945?1967? produced by a group labelled ?Vietnam Task Force?
in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The study consists of 46
volumes of text plus a four-page ?47th volume? that includes the two-
page transmittal memorandum by which Leslie H. Gelb (Chairman of the
Task Force) formally forwarded the whole study to the Secretary of
Defense plus a two-page ?outline? e. table of contents). A copy of
this ?volume is appended to this memorandum. c.

2. As a quick examination of the outline will illustrate, the study
is an amalgam of narrative text by members of the Task Force that wrote
it plus compendia of official documents grouped by period or subject or
both. In virtually every volume, the narrative text quotes extensively
(and usually quite selectively) from a variety of official documents. Not
all of these are reproduced separately in the documentary annexes, but
in many cases the quotations are collectively so extensive that most of
the document in question is reproduced at some point or other in the study.
In addition, every volume (and, usually, every section) of narrative text
has a fairly elaborate set of footnotes which cite by full title, identifying
number g. SNIE 10?4-54) and issue date virtually every document
discussed, alluded to or quoted from in the text itself. The documents
cited, quoted from or discussed Span the entire classification gamut from
overt published material g. books and articles) to Top Secret documents
carrying a variety of additional restrictive indicators.

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recognized that all of the material in the Pentagon stq'dy' is now at least
three years old and some of it is over twenty years old. Nonetheless,
we are concerned about the following areas of actual or potential damage:

 

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10. The study itself is patently tendentious, partial and axe?
grindingly selective. It is much more of a background file for a future
prosecution brief than a balanced or comprehensive historical survey.

The circiunstances of the study' preparation the timing of its 'of ficial
transnnittal forwar from its originators, and the distribution of its
copies inevitably generate certain questions about the intentions of those
who supervised its preparation. Also the study itself has one glaring
omission that could hardly have been inadvertent: There is no volume

V-- 5, i. e. while there are nine volumes ?of internal documents written
during the administrations of Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower
and Kennedy, there is no Such volume of documents for the administration
of President Johnson though Johnson-era documents were clearly used

(andicited) by the study's authors and, hence, clearly in their possession.?

 

11. We know that in addition to what is in the study itself, Ellsberg
had 'inhis possession certain other papers, some of which (known as

"Related Documents") were in a folder of his found at RAND. 25x1

 

 

[Some of these related documents have been incorporated

 

in material published in the New York Times, but we really do not know
the totality of what was/is in Ellsberg's possession or is now in the I
possession of the Times or some other paper.

 

12. In a 2.6 June story, the Chicago Sun?Tunes made reference to
an alleged 1969 CIA ?estimate? purportedly disavowing the domino theory.
The estimate in question (which was, to put it mildly, distorted in the

 

- Sun-Times story) was in fact issued in November 1968. But a careful

examination of the Sun? Tunes story and the estiinate's text leads to the
conclusion that what was leaked was not the estimate itself but someone's
commentary or summary of it, probably prepared in conjunction with work
on the 29?question Vietnam assessment that constituted work
that was in fact done in the Spring of 1969. Whether or not this particular
hypothesis is correct, the 26 June Sun?Times story cenvincingly demonstrates
that'highly classified Vietnam-related material considerably later in date
than anything in the Pentagon papers is also floating about outside of govern-
ment control. In short, there is the very real possibility that the leak of
the Pentagon papers may prove to be only an Opening salvo in a campaign

of selective major leaks by persons opposed to the war and that once the
interest in the Pentagon study begins to wane, new sets of classified

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documents of more recent vintage may be surfaced in public print. Wha?
we have assessed to date, consequently, may well prove to be "but the first
chapter of our final damage assessment.

'Attachmeat
?Final Report - OSD Task Force, Vietnam Index?

 

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