Ray McGovern

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. In the Sixties he served as an infantry/intelligence officer and then became a CIA analyst for the next 27 years. He is on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

US Counting on Putin To Signal Before Using Nukes

Hats off to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines for her Senate May 10 testimony on the likelihood of nuclear war with Russia, even though parts of it were surreal, as we discuss below. From an intelligence perspective, she told it like it is. Not only that; she took the quintessential nuclear-use question a step … Continue reading “US Counting on Putin To Signal Before Using Nukes”

What the Media Still Isn’t Telling You About Russiagate

Two years ago last Saturday (May 7, 2020) Adam Schiff (D, California), Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, was forced to perform what Nixon co-conspirator John Ehrlichman famously called a "modified limited hangout." On that day, Schiff released sworn testimony that there was zero technical evidence that Russia – or anyone else – hacked those … Continue reading “What the Media Still Isn’t Telling You About Russiagate”

Bogus Charge of Rape Did In Julian Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is the personification, as well as a harbinger of press freedom in its death throes, with democracy inexorably following – as night the day. Our founders were justly proud of the First Amendment provision that "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press". Their successors … Continue reading “Bogus Charge of Rape Did In Julian Assange”

Mearsheimer: Russia Sees ‘Existential Threat,’ Must Win

University of Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer, widely respected "dean" of the realism school (aka, "offensive realism") of international relations, has put the conflict in Ukraine in a context that everyone can understand – and needs to understand before it is too late. Speaking at an April 7 webinar, Mearsheimer was, true to form, "offensively realistic". … Continue reading “Mearsheimer: Russia Sees ‘Existential Threat,’ Must Win”

The Late-Deceased Paradigm on Russia/China

The sooner the geniuses of the Washington Swamp get it through their ivy-mantled brains that driving a wedge between Russia and China is not going to happen, the better the chances the world can survive the fallout (figurative and literal) from the war in Ukraine. Today’s Swamp geniuses read their textbooks about how Richard Nixon … Continue reading “The Late-Deceased Paradigm on Russia/China”

Will Humans Be the Next ‘Freedom Fries’?

U.S. pundits and strategic experts seem blissfully unaware of how close we all are to being fried in a nuclear strike by Russia. (Fair Labeling: if you are simply looking for yet another reason to demonize Putin, rather than to understand where he is coming from, save time and read no further.) Here’s the thing: … Continue reading “Will Humans Be the Next ‘Freedom Fries’?”

Is Chuck Todd a Chemical Agent?

Although he had stiff competition Sunday, NBC’s Chuck Todd won this week’s Oscar for supporting functionary of the the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-MEDIA-Academia-Think-Tank complex (MICIMATT). It is a "complex" with a complex bereft of soul or compassion in its overweening lust to profiteer on tension and war. In the case of Ukraine, U.S. and NATO profiteers are willing … Continue reading “Is Chuck Todd a Chemical Agent?”

Putin No ‘Pariah’ in Beijing

If the White House actually thought it could publicly shame China into condemning Russia for invading Ukraine, perhaps this shows it is incapable of understanding the serious challenge it now faces from a Russia-China entente. Two and a half months ago Moscow and Beijing described their strategic relationship as being so close that it "even … Continue reading “Putin No ‘Pariah’ in Beijing”

Biden: NO COMMENT re China on Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a liminal moment in post WWII history – and a coda for an overreaching West that failed to read the signs of the times. Russia and China have concluded that their combined strength can protect and promote their individual and mutual interests "from sea to shining sea" – Atlantic and … Continue reading “Biden: NO COMMENT re China on Ukraine”

What Accounts for Putin’s Assertiveness on Ukraine?

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s well choreographed decision yesterday to recognize the independence of the pro-Russian Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk points to two key realities: (1) Putin despairs of persuading U.S. allies, Germany and France, to press Ukraine to honor its commitments under the Minsk accords that provide for regional autonomy as well as … Continue reading “What Accounts for Putin’s Assertiveness on Ukraine?”