Ray McGovern, Retired CIA Officer
“Allegations keep cropping up in the press that CIA alumni
are undermining the Bush/Cheney administration.
In at least one sense, I suppose, this is true.
For when an administration embarks on a war justified by little
or no intelligence, speaking the truth can be regarded as treachery.
The country could use more of that kind of  ‘treachery.’ “

As our first presenter from the Americans Who Tell the Truth speaker series at ArtRage, we are proud to host a talk with Raymond McGovern. Mr. McGovern is a retired CIA officer turned political activist who writes and lectures about, among other issues, war and the role of CIA. He holds an M.A. in Russian Studies from Fordham University, a certificate in Theological Studies from Georgetown University, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

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. McGovern’s post-retirement work includes commentating on intelligence issues and in 2003 co-founding Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

In 1996, McGovern caught the attention of the media when he criticized the Pope’s position on women priests but it was his analysis of the war in Iraq, and of the CIA’s role in bringing the war about, that made McGovern one of the country´s most powerful, anti-war voices. He speaks out against what he sees as corruption in the CIA, which allowed the agency´s integrity to bend to the will of President George W. Bush and his White House officials. He asserts that the war in Iraq was manufactured and sold to the United States under false pretenses –- the real reason being oil.

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.” 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.

Co-sponsored by the Syracuse Peace Council.

Free to the Public

Learn more about Ray McGovern from his website and by visiting Americans Who Tell the Truth.