This Week:

Ray McGovern
27-year veteran CIA analyst and author of "Neoconned Again", on intelligence "failures" and the war on terrorism.

Part One (MP3) - 3/06/2006
Part Two (MP3) - 3/13/2006
(membership required)

Ray McGovern's career as a CIA analyst spanned 27 years—from the administration of John F. Kennedy to that of George H. W. Bush.

Ray’s responsibilities at the CIA included chairing National Intelligence Estimates and preparing the President’s Daily Brief under presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan. During the mid-eighties, Ray was one of the senior analysts conducting early morning briefings of the PDB one-on-one with the Vice President, the Secretaries of State and Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. At his retirement ceremony Ray received the Intelligence Commendation Medal.

In January 2003, after it had become clear that intelligence analysis was being corrupted by political pressure to “justify” an unprovoked attack on Iraq, Ray helped create VIPS - Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. VIPS now includes over 50 former professionals from the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Army Intelligence, the FBI, the National Security Agency, and other US and Allied intelligence agencies.

In addition to co-authoring most of VIPS memoranda, Ray has published a number of articles and op-eds. These have appeared in newspapers around the country and in Europe. Many of Ray’s more recent articles have been published in the Miami Herald, as well as posted on TomPaine.com, Truthout.com, Commondreams.org, Counterpunch.org, Antiwar.com and other websites.

Ray received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Fordham College and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Designated a “Distinguished Military Graduate,” he was commissioned in the US Army and served two years as an infantry/intelligence officer. He holds an M.A. in Russian Studies from Fordham University, a certificate in Theological Studies from Georgetown, and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing ministry of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. He writes and speaks for the arm of Tell the Word called “Speaking Truth to Power.” The scripture passage chiseled into the marble entrance to CIA headquarters says “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” There is now a huge gap between that ideal and current reality in the US intelligence community. “Speaking Truth to Power” is an attempt to call attention to that gap in the hope that, despite formidable obstacles, it can be filled.

Articles by Ray McGovern

Men Intoxicated with Power and Courtiers Who Serve Them - Truthout.org

Will the whistles blow before we attack Iran? - AlterNet

Referenced in this episode:

Joe Webber - Transcript - MSNBC