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EspañolRAY MCGOVERN
'Raymond McGovern' born 1939, is a retired CIA officer turned political activist. McGovern was a Federal employee under seven U.S. presidents over 27 years and presented the morning intelligence briefings at the White House for many years.
McGovern was born and raised in the Bronx and was a graduate, summa cum laude, of Fordham University. A "Distinguished Military Graduate", he served in the US Army from 1962-64 as an intelligence officer. McGovern also received an M.A. in Russian Studies from Fordham University, a certificate in Theological Studies from Georgetown University and was a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.
McGovern was a mid level officer in the CIA in the 1960s where his focus was analysis of Soviet policy toward Vietnam. McGovern was one of President Ronald Reagan's intelligence briefers from 1981-85 when he was in charge of preparing daily security briefs for the President, the Vice President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Cabinet and National Security Advisor. Later, McGovern was one of several senior CIA analysts who prepared the President's Daily Brief (PDB) for President George H.W. Bush.
Upon retirement, McGovern was awarded the Intelligence Commendation Medal from Bush (which he later returned, see below) and worked for Washington-based non-profits before becoming co-director of the Servant Leadership School in Washington. He has been married to Rita Kennedy for forty-two years, with whom he has five children and six grandchildren.
McGovern, a Roman Catholic who studied theology at Georgetown University and an occasional Sunday school teacher, first came to media attention in 1996 due to his public criticism of the Pope's stance on women as priests. In 1992 McGovern began a years-long protest of that stance by standing throughout Mass every Sunday at the Holy Trinity Church; the protest brought media attention after it provoked a (fruitless) dialogue with James Cardinal Hickey.[1]
McGovern has been an outspoken commentator on intelligence-related issues since the late 1990s.[2] He was heavily critical of the government's handling of the Wen Ho Lee case in 2000.[3] In 2002 he was publicly critical of Bush's manipulation of intelligence in the lead-up to the Iraq war.[4]
In 2003, together with other former CIA employees, McGovern founded the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity or ''VIPS''. The organization is dedicated to exposing what these former Intelligence professionals believe to be the mishandling of important intelligence, specifically relating to the War in Iraq. In January, 2006, McGovern began speaking out on behalf of Not in Our Name. According to the group's press release, McGovern served "war crimes indictments" on the Bush White House from a "peoples tribunal."
In May 2006, McGovern attended a speech by Rumsfeld and accused the defense secretary of lying about Iraq prewar intelligence during the question-and-answer session. McGovern challenged Rumsfeld on several lies, in which Rumsfeld was on the record for saying. McGovern asked him;
★ "Why did you lie to get us into a war, which was not necessary and has caused these kinds of casualties?"
★ "You said you knew where they [weapons of mass destruction] were. -Rumsfeld "I did not...I said I knew where suspect sites were." -McGovern "You said you knew where they were: 'Near Tikrit, near Baghdad, and East, West, South and North somewhat.'" (Rumsfeld stated this on March 30th, 2003 on ABC's "This Week")
★ "Your allegation that 'there was bullet proof evidence' of ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq [Rumsfeld stated this on September 27th, 2002 to the Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, Georgia]. Was that a lie or were you misled?" -Rumsfeld "Zarqawi was in Baghdad during the prewar period...that is a fact." -Mcgovern "Zarqawi...he was in the North of Iraq in a place where Saddam Hussein had no rule. That's where he was." -Rumsfeld "He was also in Baghdad." -McGovern "Yeah, when he needed to go to the hospital...come on, these people [the surrounding press] aren't idiots."[1]
With 15 other VIPS, McGovern participated in a protest of torture and returned his Intelligence Commendation Award medallion to Congressman Pete Hoekstra, R-MI, and Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He argued that he did "not wish to be associated, however remotely, with an agency engaged in torture," and that "this is an order of magnitude different from my experiences in the past — there has been torture before, but never before has it been ordered and openly justified."
He believes the CIA has bowed to pressure to alter its reports to suit the White House, and wants the agency to maintain accountability and adherence to the truth.
McGovern also believes that U.S. presidents have a history of manufacturing evidence in order to start wars. In a piece he co-authored with David MacMichael, McGovern accuses both Ronald Reagan (for supporting the Contras against the Sandinistas) and George H.W. Bush (for going to war in Iraq in 1991) of misusing or manufacturing intelligence. [2]
McGovern has called for President Bush's impeachment. He argued with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld after a speech in Atlanta, Georgia on May 4, 2006,[3] directly questioning the Secretary: "Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary and that has caused these kinds of casualties? Why?"
In his defense the Secretary answered he had not lied. McGovern affirmed that Rumsfeld had said that he knew where the WMD were: “near Tikrit, near Baghdad, and northeast, south and west of there.” The Secretary once more denied having used that language, although he said precisely that in an interview with ABC on March 30, 2003, little over a week before US forces would take control of Baghdad and one more before they would enter Tikrit.
[4]
[5] Rumsfeld had added in the original statement in reference to one particular facility, "we saw from the air that there were dozens of trucks that went into that facility after the existence of it became public in the press and they moved things out. They dispersed them and took them away. So there may be nothing left. I don't know that. But it's way too soon to know."[6]
He is one of 100 signatories to a petition "which calls for immediate public attention to unanswered questions that suggest that people within the current administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war." [7]
McGovern blames the war in Iraq on "O.I.L." In a television interview with Tucker Carlson on MSNBC, he explained: "I‘ve been using the acronym O.I.L. for many—for two years now: O for oil; I for Israel; and L for logistics, logistics being the permanent—now we say “enduring”—military bases that the U.S. wants to keep in Iraq."[8]
McGovern testified at a Democratic National Headquarters forum in 2005 that had been convened by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) of the House Judiciary Committee on the Downing Street Memo.
The ''Washington Post'' reported that in his testimony McGovern "declared that the United States went to war in Iraq for oil, Israel and military bases craved by administration 'neocons' so 'the United States and Israel could dominate that part of the world.' He said that Israel should not be considered an ally and that Bush was doing the bidding of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. 'Israel is not allowed to be brought up in polite conversation,' McGovern said. Genuine criticism of official Israeli policy is often portrayed as if it were anti-semite bigotry: 'The last time I did this, the previous director of Central Intelligence called me anti-Semitic.'" [9]
McGovern described the incident with former Director of Central Intelligence James Woolsey in an article in ''Counterpunch'':
:''I thought of the debate I had on Iraq with arch-neoconservative and former CIA Director James Woolsey on PBS' Charlie Rose Show on August 20, when I broke the taboo on mentioning Israel and was immediately branded "anti-Semitic" by Woolsey. Reflecting later on his accusation, it seemed almost OK since it was so blatantly ad hominem. And his attack was all the more transparent, coming from the self-described "anchor of the Presbyterian wing of JINSA"-the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs, a strong advocate of war to eliminate all perceived enemies of Israel-like Iraq.''[10]
★ Ray McGovern, "Case Closed", ''Tom Paine'', February 19, 2004.
★ Ray McGovern, "Proof Bush Fixed The Facts," ''Tom Paine'', May 4, 2005.
★ Ray McGovern, "Headed For Iran, Juggernaut Gaining Momentum", ''Truthout'', February 6, 2006.
★ Ray McGovern, Archive of McGovern's articles for Alternet, ''Alternet'', 06/03-04/06.
★ Ray McGovern speaks at Peace Action National Congress (July 2004) - 23 minutes
★ Ray McGovern speaks in BackTalk, at Salisbury University - 60 minutes
★ Ray McGovern speaks "On torture" at John Marshall Law School in Chicago - 52 minutes
1. Jim Naughton, "A House Divided," ''Washington Post Magazine'' (25 August 1996) W12; Dolores and Roger Flaherty, "Standing for principle sparks a crisis," ''Chicago Sun-Times'' (21 December 1997) p. 24.
2. Ray McGovern, "How lies replaced intelligence at the CIA," ''Boston Globe'' (7 October 1999) p. A 27; Ray McGovern, "Protecting the homeland: Don't jeopardize intelligence links," ''Christian Science Monitor'' (15 July 2002) p.9.
3. Ray McGovern, "Unequal in the eyes of justice?," ''Christian Science Monitor'' (18 September 2000) p. 11.
4. Ray McGovern, "The best intelligence? CIA." ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' (22 November 2002) p. 19A; Ray McGovern, "How Intelligence Now Serves the Defense Department," ''Boston Globe'' (29 September 2002) p. D11.
★ Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
★ Ex-CIA analyst: Rumsfeld 'should have owned up' transcript of McGovern interview with CNN
★ Downloadable audio interview with Scott Horton
★ Audio and Transcript of Brad Show interview, June 11, 2005
★ Truthdigger of the Week: Ray McGovern
★ "Retired CIA Official Says Bush Is A War Criminal" (audio interview)
★ "McGovern Questions Rumsfeld On Lies About WMD" (CNN Video)
★ "McGovern: Forged 'yellowcake' memo 'leads right back to' Cheney" (MSNBC Tucker Carlson Video)
★ "Retired CIA Analyst Ray McGovern Takes on Rumsfeld Over Justification for Iraq Invasion" May 5th, 2006 ''Democracy Now''
★ "Q&A sessions with Ray McGovern" (News Video)
★ 'Grote kans op nepbewijzen Irak' July 21, 2003 Interview with Planet Internet (in Dutch)
| Contents |
| Biography |
| Criticism of Pope |
| Intelligence Activism |
| Rumsfeld |
| Views |
| Articles |
| Video |
| References |
| See also |
| Further reading |
Biography
McGovern was born and raised in the Bronx and was a graduate, summa cum laude, of Fordham University. A "Distinguished Military Graduate", he served in the US Army from 1962-64 as an intelligence officer. McGovern also received an M.A. in Russian Studies from Fordham University, a certificate in Theological Studies from Georgetown University and was a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.
McGovern was a mid level officer in the CIA in the 1960s where his focus was analysis of Soviet policy toward Vietnam. McGovern was one of President Ronald Reagan's intelligence briefers from 1981-85 when he was in charge of preparing daily security briefs for the President, the Vice President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Cabinet and National Security Advisor. Later, McGovern was one of several senior CIA analysts who prepared the President's Daily Brief (PDB) for President George H.W. Bush.
Upon retirement, McGovern was awarded the Intelligence Commendation Medal from Bush (which he later returned, see below) and worked for Washington-based non-profits before becoming co-director of the Servant Leadership School in Washington. He has been married to Rita Kennedy for forty-two years, with whom he has five children and six grandchildren.
Criticism of Pope
McGovern, a Roman Catholic who studied theology at Georgetown University and an occasional Sunday school teacher, first came to media attention in 1996 due to his public criticism of the Pope's stance on women as priests. In 1992 McGovern began a years-long protest of that stance by standing throughout Mass every Sunday at the Holy Trinity Church; the protest brought media attention after it provoked a (fruitless) dialogue with James Cardinal Hickey.[1]
Intelligence Activism
McGovern has been an outspoken commentator on intelligence-related issues since the late 1990s.[2] He was heavily critical of the government's handling of the Wen Ho Lee case in 2000.[3] In 2002 he was publicly critical of Bush's manipulation of intelligence in the lead-up to the Iraq war.[4]
In 2003, together with other former CIA employees, McGovern founded the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity or ''VIPS''. The organization is dedicated to exposing what these former Intelligence professionals believe to be the mishandling of important intelligence, specifically relating to the War in Iraq. In January, 2006, McGovern began speaking out on behalf of Not in Our Name. According to the group's press release, McGovern served "war crimes indictments" on the Bush White House from a "peoples tribunal."
Rumsfeld
In May 2006, McGovern attended a speech by Rumsfeld and accused the defense secretary of lying about Iraq prewar intelligence during the question-and-answer session. McGovern challenged Rumsfeld on several lies, in which Rumsfeld was on the record for saying. McGovern asked him;
★ "Why did you lie to get us into a war, which was not necessary and has caused these kinds of casualties?"
★ "You said you knew where they [weapons of mass destruction] were. -Rumsfeld "I did not...I said I knew where suspect sites were." -McGovern "You said you knew where they were: 'Near Tikrit, near Baghdad, and East, West, South and North somewhat.'" (Rumsfeld stated this on March 30th, 2003 on ABC's "This Week")
★ "Your allegation that 'there was bullet proof evidence' of ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq [Rumsfeld stated this on September 27th, 2002 to the Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, Georgia]. Was that a lie or were you misled?" -Rumsfeld "Zarqawi was in Baghdad during the prewar period...that is a fact." -Mcgovern "Zarqawi...he was in the North of Iraq in a place where Saddam Hussein had no rule. That's where he was." -Rumsfeld "He was also in Baghdad." -McGovern "Yeah, when he needed to go to the hospital...come on, these people [the surrounding press] aren't idiots."[1]
Views
With 15 other VIPS, McGovern participated in a protest of torture and returned his Intelligence Commendation Award medallion to Congressman Pete Hoekstra, R-MI, and Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He argued that he did "not wish to be associated, however remotely, with an agency engaged in torture," and that "this is an order of magnitude different from my experiences in the past — there has been torture before, but never before has it been ordered and openly justified."
He believes the CIA has bowed to pressure to alter its reports to suit the White House, and wants the agency to maintain accountability and adherence to the truth.
McGovern also believes that U.S. presidents have a history of manufacturing evidence in order to start wars. In a piece he co-authored with David MacMichael, McGovern accuses both Ronald Reagan (for supporting the Contras against the Sandinistas) and George H.W. Bush (for going to war in Iraq in 1991) of misusing or manufacturing intelligence. [2]
McGovern has called for President Bush's impeachment. He argued with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld after a speech in Atlanta, Georgia on May 4, 2006,[3] directly questioning the Secretary: "Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary and that has caused these kinds of casualties? Why?"
In his defense the Secretary answered he had not lied. McGovern affirmed that Rumsfeld had said that he knew where the WMD were: “near Tikrit, near Baghdad, and northeast, south and west of there.” The Secretary once more denied having used that language, although he said precisely that in an interview with ABC on March 30, 2003, little over a week before US forces would take control of Baghdad and one more before they would enter Tikrit.
[4]
[5] Rumsfeld had added in the original statement in reference to one particular facility, "we saw from the air that there were dozens of trucks that went into that facility after the existence of it became public in the press and they moved things out. They dispersed them and took them away. So there may be nothing left. I don't know that. But it's way too soon to know."[6]
He is one of 100 signatories to a petition "which calls for immediate public attention to unanswered questions that suggest that people within the current administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war." [7]
McGovern blames the war in Iraq on "O.I.L." In a television interview with Tucker Carlson on MSNBC, he explained: "I‘ve been using the acronym O.I.L. for many—for two years now: O for oil; I for Israel; and L for logistics, logistics being the permanent—now we say “enduring”—military bases that the U.S. wants to keep in Iraq."[8]
McGovern testified at a Democratic National Headquarters forum in 2005 that had been convened by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) of the House Judiciary Committee on the Downing Street Memo.
The ''Washington Post'' reported that in his testimony McGovern "declared that the United States went to war in Iraq for oil, Israel and military bases craved by administration 'neocons' so 'the United States and Israel could dominate that part of the world.' He said that Israel should not be considered an ally and that Bush was doing the bidding of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. 'Israel is not allowed to be brought up in polite conversation,' McGovern said. Genuine criticism of official Israeli policy is often portrayed as if it were anti-semite bigotry: 'The last time I did this, the previous director of Central Intelligence called me anti-Semitic.'" [9]
McGovern described the incident with former Director of Central Intelligence James Woolsey in an article in ''Counterpunch'':
:''I thought of the debate I had on Iraq with arch-neoconservative and former CIA Director James Woolsey on PBS' Charlie Rose Show on August 20, when I broke the taboo on mentioning Israel and was immediately branded "anti-Semitic" by Woolsey. Reflecting later on his accusation, it seemed almost OK since it was so blatantly ad hominem. And his attack was all the more transparent, coming from the self-described "anchor of the Presbyterian wing of JINSA"-the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs, a strong advocate of war to eliminate all perceived enemies of Israel-like Iraq.''[10]
Articles
★ Ray McGovern, "Case Closed", ''Tom Paine'', February 19, 2004.
★ Ray McGovern, "Proof Bush Fixed The Facts," ''Tom Paine'', May 4, 2005.
★ Ray McGovern, "Headed For Iran, Juggernaut Gaining Momentum", ''Truthout'', February 6, 2006.
★ Ray McGovern, Archive of McGovern's articles for Alternet, ''Alternet'', 06/03-04/06.
Video
★ Ray McGovern speaks at Peace Action National Congress (July 2004) - 23 minutes
★ Ray McGovern speaks in BackTalk, at Salisbury University - 60 minutes
★ Ray McGovern speaks "On torture" at John Marshall Law School in Chicago - 52 minutes
References
1. Jim Naughton, "A House Divided," ''Washington Post Magazine'' (25 August 1996) W12; Dolores and Roger Flaherty, "Standing for principle sparks a crisis," ''Chicago Sun-Times'' (21 December 1997) p. 24.
2. Ray McGovern, "How lies replaced intelligence at the CIA," ''Boston Globe'' (7 October 1999) p. A 27; Ray McGovern, "Protecting the homeland: Don't jeopardize intelligence links," ''Christian Science Monitor'' (15 July 2002) p.9.
3. Ray McGovern, "Unequal in the eyes of justice?," ''Christian Science Monitor'' (18 September 2000) p. 11.
4. Ray McGovern, "The best intelligence? CIA." ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' (22 November 2002) p. 19A; Ray McGovern, "How Intelligence Now Serves the Defense Department," ''Boston Globe'' (29 September 2002) p. D11.
See also
★ Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Further reading
★ Ex-CIA analyst: Rumsfeld 'should have owned up' transcript of McGovern interview with CNN
★ Downloadable audio interview with Scott Horton
★ Audio and Transcript of Brad Show interview, June 11, 2005
★ Truthdigger of the Week: Ray McGovern
★ "Retired CIA Official Says Bush Is A War Criminal" (audio interview)
★ "McGovern Questions Rumsfeld On Lies About WMD" (CNN Video)
★ "McGovern: Forged 'yellowcake' memo 'leads right back to' Cheney" (MSNBC Tucker Carlson Video)
★ "Retired CIA Analyst Ray McGovern Takes on Rumsfeld Over Justification for Iraq Invasion" May 5th, 2006 ''Democracy Now''
★ "Q&A sessions with Ray McGovern" (News Video)
★ 'Grote kans op nepbewijzen Irak' July 21, 2003 Interview with Planet Internet (in Dutch)
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