Ray McGovern

"As Bad As Rumsfeld?" The title jars, doesn’t it. The more so, since Defense Secretary Robert Gates found his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, such an easy act to follow. But the jarring part reflects how malnourished most of us are on the thin gruel served up by the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM). Over the past few … Continue reading “Robert Gates: As Bad As Rumsfeld?”

After a week lecturing at Kansas State University and then in Kansas City, Missouri, I could not shake the feeling that what Kansas and Missouri need most is the equivalent of Radio Free Europe, which was so effective in spreading truth around inside Eastern Europe during the Cold War. (Truth in advertising: during the late … Continue reading “President-elect’s Queries to Briefers”

On Sept. 23, the neoconservative chiefs of the Washington Post‘s editorial page mourned, in a tone much like what one hears on the death of a close friend, that "a military strike by the United States or Israel [on Iran is not] likely in the coming months." One could almost hear a wistful sigh, as … Continue reading “Attack on Iran Off the Table?”

Dear Sen. Biden, I don’t have to remind you of the importance of this Thursday’s debate from a political perspective. But as you prepare, I invite you to spare a few minutes to look at the opportunity from a moral and religious perspective. You may wish to examine your conscience regarding how you have acted … Continue reading “To Joe Biden: Time for Confession”

Thomas Fingar, the U.S. government’s top intelligence analyst, in a public speech on Sept. 4, repeated the intelligence community’s key judgment that Iran’s work on the "weaponization portion" of its nuclear development program "was suspended" in 2003. Not that the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) has exactly trumpeted this important conclusion. One has to read down … Continue reading “Iran’s Road Less Traveled to Nukes”

Ten days ago, as the nation focused attention on the hurricane nearing the Mississippi Delta, another storm was brewing far upstream in St. Paul, Minn. – a storm far more dangerous, it turned out, but one by and large overlooked by the fawning corporate media (FCM). When I flew into St. Paul on Saturday evening, … Continue reading “Trickle-Down Preemption”

Most of the fawning corporate media (FCM) coverage of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s resignation Monday was even more bereft of context than usual. It was as if Musharraf looked out the window and said, "It’s a beautiful day. I think I’ll resign and go fishing." Thus, the lead in Tuesday’s editorial in the New York … Continue reading “Musharraf Out, Like Nixon; Bush Still In, Like Flynn”

Dear Colin, You have said you regret the "blot" on your record caused by your parroting spurious intelligence at the U.N. to justify war on Iraq. On the chance you may not have noticed, I write to point out that you now have a unique opportunity to do some rehab on your reputation. If you … Continue reading “Out Damn Blot: A Letter to Powell”

You say you expected more rhetoric than reality from Senators Obama and McCain in their speeches about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Well, that’s certainly what you got. What I find nonetheless amazing is how they, and the pundits, have taken such little notice of the dramatic change in the political landscape occasioned by Iraqi … Continue reading “Maliki’s ‘Timetable’ Shakes Iraq Debate”

Unlike the attack on Iraq five years ago, to deal with Iran there need be no massing of troops. And, with the propaganda buildup already well under way, there need be little, if any, forewarning before shock and awe and pox – in the form of air and missile attacks – begin. This time it … Continue reading “Bomb Iran? What’s to Stop Us?”