Ray McGovern

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2600:8801:110b:f900:4583:cae3:dc7:3e42 (talk) at 16:11, 4 November 2022 (→‎Personal life: Fixed typo. Bio says he served as an Army infantry/intelligence officer, not as an Army officer in the analysis division on Soviet foreign policy which doesn’t make any sense.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the New York politician, see J. Raymond McGovern.
McGovern in 2015

Raymond McGovern (born August 25, 1939) is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer turned political activist.[1] McGovern was a CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990, and in the 1980s chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared the President's Daily Brief. He received the Intelligence Commendation Medal at his retirement, returning it in 2006 to protest the CIA's involvement in torture.[2] McGovern's post-retirement work includes commenting for Consortium News, RT, and Sputnik News, among other outlets, on intelligence and foreign policy issues. In 2003 he co-founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

Personal life

Ray McGovern was born and grew up in the Bronx, New York City. With a scholarship he earned a M.A. with honours in Russian Language, Literature and History at Fordham University, and in the early 1960s served as a U.S. Army infantry/intelligence officer and in the analysis division on Soviet foreign policy, especially with respect to China and Indochina.[3]

McGovern is married to Rita Kennedy; the couple have five children and eight grandchildren.[4]

Career

McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years (April 1963 to August 1990), serving seven U.S. presidents.[5] His CIA career began under President John F. Kennedy, and lasted through the presidency of George H. W. Bush.[6] McGovern advised Henry Kissinger during the Richard Nixon administration, and during the Ronald Reagan administration he chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared the President's Daily Brief.[7][8]

At his retirement in 1990, McGovern received the CIA's Intelligence Commendation Medal.[2][7] He returned the medal "in protest in 2006 over CIA use of torture."[9]

Activism

Intelligence activism

McGovern, 2008

After retiring from the CIA, McGovern became a commentator on intelligence-related issues from the late 1990s onwards.[10] He was heavily critical of the government's handling of the Wen Ho Lee case in 2000.[11] 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.[12]

In 2003, together with other former CIA employees, McGovern founded the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).[13] The organization is dedicated to analyzing and criticizing the use of intelligence, at first concerning the Iraq War.[2]

In the same year, McGovern confronted Donald Rumsfeld openly and live-broadcast by CNN interrogating him about his lies concerning weapons of mass destruction,[14] a dispute later called the "vivisection of Donald Rumsfeld" by Keith Olbermann.[15]

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."

In 2006, McGovern returned his Intelligence Commendation Medal in protest at the CIA's involvement in torture.[2] He commented, corruption had run amok in intelligence circles and the president should be impeached.[16]

On October 9, 2013, McGovern, along with three former winners, gave the Sam Adams Award for integrity in intelligence to Edward Snowden in a Moscow ceremony.[17][18]

In September 2015, McGovern and 27 other members of VIPS steering group wrote a letter to president Barack Obama challenging a recently published book, that claimed to rebut the report of the United States Senate Intelligence Committee on the CIA's use of torture.

Arrests

During a 2011 speech at George Washington University (GW) by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, McGovern stood with his back turned during her remarks, blocking the view of some of the audience and media for about five minutes in "silent protest" of Clinton's foreign policy.[19][20] McGovern refused to cooperate when asked to leave by security, which led to his arrest for disorderly conduct.[19] The incident led to his inclusion on the State Department's "be on the lookout" (BOLO) list, which authorizes law enforcement to stop and question him on sight.[20] The charges were subsequently dropped two weeks later. In 2014, McGovern's lawyer filed a lawsuit against the GW police department for allegedly using excessive force and also against the university and State Department for allegedly violating his right to peacefully protest.[20]

In 2014, McGovern was arrested by the New York City police department at an event where former CIA director and retired Army General David Petraeus was giving a speech. McGovern said he wanted to ask Petraeus about his involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but security told him he was not welcome.[21] He claimed he had a ticket to the event, but was charged for resisting arrest and criminal trespassing.[22]

On May 9, 2018, McGovern was one of several protesters who disrupted the Senate confirmation hearing of Gina Haspel to become CIA director. After he began yelling about waterboarding, McGovern was forcibly removed by Capitol Police and charged with disruption and resisting arrest.[23][24][25]

Views

Vietnam War

In a 2003 interview with the UK's Independent newspaper, McGovern said that Lyndon B. Johnson seized on the Gulf of Tonkin incident as a "spur-of-the-moment thing" rather than as part of a calculated drive to war.[8]

Pope John Paul II

A Catholic from birth,[26] McGovern was highly critical of Pope John Paul II conservative stance on women's rights in church. He saw the former Pope as a repressive force. McGovern had been teaching Sunday school and earned a certificate in theology from Georgetown University. He participated in Cursillo, and was district president of Bread for the City, but by standing during mass for several weeks he protested against the teaching on sex roles and sexual ethics which to him seemed oppressive.[27]

Iraq War

McGovern sharply criticised the US 2003 invasion of Iraq and its justification by the Bush administration, which he described as a "very calculated, 18-month, orchestrated, incredibly cynical campaign of lies that we've seen to justify a war".[8]

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 in 2005 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-semitism: 'The last time I did this, the previous director of Central Intelligence called me anti-semitic.'"[28] He repeated the comments the following year 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."[29]

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden

When asked in 2010 on TVNZ whether Julian Assange was a hero or villain, he replied "hero".[30] When asked the same year whether Julian Assange was a journalist, he replied to the CNN reporter: "Yeah, actually, with all due respect, I think you should be following his example."[31] In 2010, he co-wrote an open letter of support for WikiLeaks and Assange, with Coleen Rowley, Lawrence Wilkerson, Craig Murray and others.[32][non-primary source needed]

In 2013, he travelled with Rowley, Thomas A. Drake and Jesselyn Radack to Russia to present Edward Snowden with the award of the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence.[33]

Syria

During the Syrian civil war, McGovern told Russian state broadcaster RT and other outlets that the sarin used in the 2013 Ghouta chemical attack had not been manufactured by the Syrian government.[34][35]

Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election

McGovern holds a position that the theft of the DNC emails was an inside job, and not the work of Russian agents (contrary to the findings published by the US intelligence community).[36] In McGovern's view, the metadata in the files released by Guccifer 2.0 (whom the US intelligence community identifies as a Russian military intelligence operation) originated from a computer in the Eastern United States but was manipulated to give the appearance that the documents came from Russia. With William Binney, McGovern released a VIPS report in support of his theory, which was taken up by The Nation and other outlets[37] and promoted by Russian state media.[38] Many of the VIPS members, however, did not sign the report. It was later revealed that the inside job theory itself originated from a disinformation campaign run by a UK-based pro-Kremlin hacker named Tim Leonard.[39]

Russia related activities

McGovern was skeptical of the allegation that Russia was involved in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014 over eastern Ukraine.[40]

McGovern was listed in a 2022 report by the Ukrainian government as a "Speaker who promotes narratives consonant with Russian propaganda".[41]

Publications

Book chapters

References

  1. ^ Smith, Patrick (7 February 2016). "Intelligent people know that the empire is on the downhill: A veteran CIA agent spills the goods on the Deep State and our foreign policy nightmares". Salon.
  2. ^ a b c d Ambika Behal, United Press International, 10 March 2006, The U.S. has run amok; former CIA analyst
  3. ^ "Bio – Ray McGovern". raymcgovern.com.
  4. ^ "Militarism and Foreign Policy – Page 29 – WESPAC Foundation". wespac.org.
  5. ^ Dan Chapman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7 December 2003, Q & A / Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst: 'We're trying to spread a little truth'
  6. ^ Die Tageszeitung, 30 October 2013, „Obamas Angst vor Geheimdiensten“
  7. ^ a b Donald P. Russo, The Morning Call, 13 May 2006, No shortage of evidence that Bush is slipping
  8. ^ a b c "No President has lied so baldly and so often and so demonstrably". The Independent. 2003-11-09. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  9. ^ "Ray McGovern | The Guardian". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-12-18.Archive.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Ray McGovern, "Unequal in the eyes of justice?," Christian Science Monitor (18 September 2000) p. 11.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Andy Worthington (2015-09-15). "28 Veterans of US Intelligence Fight Back Against CIA Claims That the Bush Torture Program Was Useful and Necessary". Archived from the original on 2015-09-28.
  14. ^ Kall, Rob (2011-02-17). "Former CIA Agent Ray McGovern Discusses Arrest at Secretary Clinton's Internet Freedom Speech". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  15. ^ "'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for May 4". msnbc.com. 2006-05-05. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  16. ^ "The U.S. has run amok; former CIA analyst". UPI. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  17. ^ Sputnik. "Snowden Has Secret Moscow Meeting with US Leakers". en.ria.ru.
  18. ^ "TheWikiLeaksChannel". YouTube.
  19. ^ a b Anand, Priya (February 17, 2011). "Protester arrested during Clinton speech". The GW Hatchet. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  20. ^ a b c Gurciullo, Brianna (March 3, 2014). "Man who protested 2011 Clinton speech sues UPD officers for excessive force". The GW Hatchet. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  21. ^ "Former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern Details Painful Arrest at Petraeus Event". Democracy Now!. November 4, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  22. ^ Tracy, Thomas (November 2, 2014). "Former CIA analyst arrested after trying to crash event with David Petraeus". NY Daily News. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  23. ^ Samuels, Brett (May 9, 2018). "Rubio responds to protester who interrupted Haspel hearing". thehill.com. The Hill. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  24. ^ TheRealNews (May 9, 2018). "Police Brutalize 78-Year-Old CIA Whistleblower Protesting at Torturer Gina Haspel's Senate Hearing". Youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  25. ^ Carden, James (2018-05-17). "Ray McGovern on Gina Haspel, Torture, and His Recent Arrest". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  26. ^ Smith, Patrick J. (February 14, 2016). "This is how the CIA botched Iraq post-9/11: Bob Gates, careerist sycophancy, and the real history of the Deep State". Salon. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  27. ^ Naughton, Jim (August 25, 1996). "A HOUSE DIVIDED". The Washington Post.
  28. ^ Milbank, Dana (2005-06-17). "Democrats Play House To Rally Against the War". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  29. ^ "'The Situation with Tucker Carlson' for May 4". NBC News. 5 May 2006.
  30. ^ Mike Hosking, Ray McGovern (December 10, 2010). "Interview on TVNZ about Julian Assange and Wikileaks". Close Up. TV NZ. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  31. ^ Don Lemon, Ray McGovern (December 12, 2010). "Metrodome Roof Collapse; Lure of the Outsider; WikiLeaks War; Christmas in Washington; Sarah Palin in Haiti; Dream Act in Jeopardy; Atlanta Cheating Scandal". CNN Newsroom (video). CNN. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Transcript.
  32. ^ Ellsberg, Daniel; Grevil, Frank; Gun, Katharine; MacMichael, David; McGovern, Ray; Murray, Craig; Rowley, Coleen; Wilkerson, Larry (December 8, 2010), "Ex-Intelligence Officers, Others See Plusses in WikiLeaks Disclosures", Daniel Ellsberg's Website, retrieved March 27, 2017
  33. ^ ""Edward Snowden is a Patriot": Ex-NSA CIA, FBI and Justice Whistleblowers Meet Leaker in Moscow". Democracy Now!. 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  34. ^ "« Russiagate » : « France Soir » confirme sa dérive complotiste - L'Observatoire du conspirationnisme". Conspiracy Watch | L'Observatoire du conspirationnisme (in French). 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  35. ^ The Christian Science Monitor. "Chemical attacks in Syria. Where's the proof Assad was responsible?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  36. ^ Sheffield, Matthew (September 17, 2017). "Was the DNC hack an inside job? It's a hot theory — but probably not". Salon. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  37. ^ "Stories Claiming DNC Hack Was 'Inside Job' Rely Heavily On A Stupid Conversion Error No 'Forensic Expert' Would Make". Techdirt. 2017-08-14. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  38. ^ " Here’s What Russian Disinfo Sites Want You to Believe About Impeachment", Mother Jones, 4 October 2019. "RT picked this up and ran with it, running multiple segments that parroted Trump’s soon-debunked claim that this had occurred, and that it was evidence of a deep state operation against Trump. In one video shared on twitter, Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst and RT regular who argues Russia’s 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee was an inside job, is quoted speaking conspiratorially about a group of “people who are behind all this,” as the segment emphasizes the narrative that the whistleblower’s complaint is untrustworthy because it involved second-hand information."
  39. ^ Campbell, Duncan (July 31, 2018). "Briton ran pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign that helped Trump deny Russian links". Computer Weekly. Retrieved August 1, 2018. According to former NSA technical manager Tom Drake, "Ray's determination to publish claims he wanted to believe without checking facts and discarding evidence he didn't want to hear exactly reproduced the Iraq war intelligence failures which the VIPS group was formed to oppose". He and other VIPS members refused to sign McGovern's report... Privately, Binney says his colleague Ray McGovern, who has also pushed the Forensicator theories, accepts that there is no evidence where the files were really copied. "Ray no longer argues that point – except to call it an 'alleged location'," said Binney. McGovern has refused to confirm this, or to answer questions about evidence for his claims. Despite accepting that there was no evidence, Binney and McGovern have not retracted the claims in the 2017 VIPS report at the time of writing
  40. ^ Rudin, Mike (2016-04-25). "Conspiracy Files: Who shot down MH17?". BBC News. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  41. ^ administratior (2022-07-14). "Спікери, які просувають співзвучні російській пропаганді наративи | Центр протидії дезінформації" (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-07-17.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ray McGovern.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Ray McGovern.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ray_McGovern&oldid=1120008829"