Ray McGovern

Is the National Security Agency being “turned against the people,” as the Congressional committee led by Sen. Frank Church warned might happen? We the people cannot know; it’s classified. Thursday’s slick but evasive testimony by Gen. Mike Hayden, the president’s nominee to head the Central Intelligence Agency, put the spotlight on Hayden’s personal role in … Continue reading “Eavesdropping, Gagging, and the Constitution”

“Court-martialed,” says one highly-respected former DIRNSA (which, for the uninitiated, stands for “director, National Security Agency”). The comment came amid a private burst of indignation at the news that Gen. Mike Hayden had bowed to administration pressure to skirt the law and violate what until then was the NSA’s “First Commandment” – Thou Shalt Not … Continue reading “Should Gen. Hayden Be Confirmed – or Court-Martialed?”

Is Congress aiding and abetting the creation of a police state? Recently, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., helped to give the CIA and NSA unprecedented police powers. By inserting a provision in the FY07 Intelligence Authorization Act, Hoekstra has undermined the existing statutory limits on involvement in domestic law enforcement. … Continue reading “Bowing to the Police State”

"Hold ’em, Yale" is one of the best short stories of Guys and Dolls creator Damon Runyon, who depicted the New York City underworld in the 1920s. The story deals with an undercover operation to scalp ducats before the annual Yale-Harvard football game. It begins: "What I am doing in New Haven on the day … Continue reading “My Meeting With Rumsfeld”

As additional information on the firing of CIA official Mary McCarthy just 10 days short of her retirement becomes available, what is afoot is becoming quite clear. We are witnessing a Stalinesque show trial sans the actual trial and inevitable execution. The purpose is intimidation, not extermination. We should be thankful for small favors, I … Continue reading “McCarthyism: Mary and Joe”

When you invest so much effort into tangling the web – in this case, corrupting intelligence analysis in the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq – it becomes hard to know when to stop. Vice President Dick Cheney went to inordinate lengths, including 10 visits to CIA headquarters, to ensure that that crucial NIE on … Continue reading “Blowing Cheney’s Cover”

Note: Ray McGovern and 15 others took action Thursday in the halls of Congress. The 16 donned orange jumpsuits similar to those worn by detainees at Guantánamo Bay. They wore gags over their mouths decorated with one word – torture. Not another word needed to be said as they walked the halls of Congress. McGovern, … Continue reading “I Do Not Wish to Be Associated With Torture”

The question looms large against the backdrop of the hearing on whistleblowing scheduled for Tuesday afternoon by Christopher Shays, chair of the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations. Among those testifying are Russell Tice, one of the sources who exposed illegal eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, and Army Sgt. Sam … Continue reading “Who Will Blow the Whistle Before We Attack Iran?”

What President George W. Bush, Fox News, and the Washington Times were saying about Iraq three years ago they are now saying about Iran. After Saturday’s vote by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report Iran’s suspicious nuclear activities to the UN Security Council, the president wasted no time in warning, "The world will … Continue reading “Juggernaut Gathering Momentum: Next Stop, Iran”

Individually, the new “dots” supplied by revelations about the Iraq war in James Risen’s State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration are not very surprising. Collectively, though, they provide valuable insight into the peculiar way in which President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepared to … Continue reading “The Empty Shirts, Courtiers, and ‘Crazies’”