Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who famously leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, joined other whistleblowers in encouraging intelligence employees to speak up about “illegal, immoral, wasteful activities [that] are going on where you work.”
Ellsberg and his cohorts have visited Edward Snowden, the runner-up for TIME Person of the Year, and in their open letter in the Guardian, they held Snowden up as an example of “what one person can do.”
But Snowden shouldn’t have to stand alone, and his revelations shouldn’t be the only eyes,” they wrote.
“There IS strength in numbers,” they added. “You won’t be the first – nor the last – to follow your conscience and let us know what’s being done in our names. Truth is coming – it can’t be stopped. Crooked politicians will be held accountable. It’s in your hands to be on the right side of history and accelerate the process. Courage is contagious.:”