Ray McGovern

For the New York politician, see J. Raymond McGovern.

11 April 2008, Phoenix, Ariz.

Raymond McGovern (born August 25, 1939) is a retired CIA officer turned political activist. McGovern was a Federal employee under seven U.S. presidents over 27 years, presenting the morning intelligence briefings at the White House for many of them.

Personal life

Ray McGovern was born in the Bronx in New York City and grew up there. He earned a degree with honors from Fordham University and then served in the U.S. Army from 1962 to 1964.

McGovern has been married to Rita Kennedy for 50 years. Together they have five children and eight grandchildren.

Career

He worked as an officer for the CIA, where he was responsible for the analysis of Soviet policy in Vietnam.

From 1981 to 1985 he was one of the intelligence officers in charge for the daily briefing of President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush

Post-retirement and views

Intelligence activism

McGovern has been an outspoken commentator on intelligence-related issues since the late 1990s. He was heavily critical of the government's handling of the Wen Ho Lee case in 2000. In 2002 he was publicly critical of President George W. Bush's use of government intelligence in the lead-up to the war in Iraq.

In 2003, together with other former CIA employees, McGovern founded the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity or VIPS. The organization is dedicated to analyzing and criticizing the use of intelligence, specifically relating to the War in Iraq. In January 2006, McGovern began speaking out on behalf of the anti-war group Not in Our Name. According to the group's press release, McGovern served symbolic "war crimes indictments" on the Bush White House from a "people's tribunal."

"O.I.L."

In a television interview with Tucker Carlson on MSNBC, McGovern said: "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."

McGovern testified at a Democratic National Headquarters forum in 2005 that had been convened by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) 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.'"

Arrested for Silent Protest at Clinton Speech

During a speech on February 16, 2011, at George Washington University by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton he stood silently with his back turned during her remarks, leading to his arrest.

On Julian Assange

When asked on TVNZ whether Julian Assange was a hero or villain, he replied "Hero", and has co-written an open letter of support for WikiLeaks and Assange.

When asked whether Julian Assange was a journalist, he replied "Yeah, actually, with all due respect, I think you (the mainstream media) should be following his example.", to the CNN reporter.

External links

• Radio interview on Progressive Radio
• Downloadable audio interview with Scott Horton
• The-war-at-home The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• Audio and Transcript of Brad Show interview, June 11, 2005
• "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 5, 2006 Democracy Now