Truthdigger of the Week: Ray McGovern
Truthdig salutes Ray McGovern, the 27-year CIA veteran who articulated the outrage of a nation by publicly and heroically challenging Donald Rumsfeld's lies about Iraqi WMD. Click here for the full report.
Truthdig salutes Ray McGovern, the 27-year CIA veteran who articulated the outrage of a nation by publicly and heroically challenging Donald Rumsfeld’s lies about Iraqi WMD at an Atlanta public forum on May 4.
The populist hero is our Truthdigger of the Week.
You can follow any of the links below to get a full picture of the man, the encounter and the dust-up he left in his wake.
But if you want a little dessert before eating your vegetables, check out McGovern’s account of a cheeky piece of anti-Rumsfeld propaganda he came upon at the Atlanta forum. It was distributed by The World Can’t Wait, an organization dedicated to driving President Bush from office.
“[W]hen I walked into the place, I wrangled a ticket very surreptitiously. I was met with this little blurb on Donald Rumsfeld, and as I read it, I had to chuckle. It says:
There’s going to be a question-and-answer period, but please adhere to these guidelines. Refrain from using the word ‘lie’ in relation to the war in Iraq. Do not question the secretary’s personal responsibility for torture. And please don’t discuss first use of nuclear weapons against Iran. If you violate these guidelines, you’ll be immediately removed from the auditorium, flown to an undesignated prison location somewhere in Eastern Europe and tortured. Thank you for your cooperation. The World Can’t Wait.
A wonderful, wonderful group. Those were the folks that spoke up and tried to brace Donald Rumsfeld with the lies and their charges of him being — and he is, arguably — a war criminal. And we shouldn’t shy away from saying that.”
Suggested Links
- McGovern Bio
- MSNBC host Keith Olbermann presents the un-cut version of the McGovern-Rumsfeld encounter–complete with biting commentary by Newsweek writer Richard Wolfee
- Video of the McGovern-Rumsfeld encounter
- Associated Press article on the encounter
- Article on how the media largely marginalized or ignored the substance of McGovern’s challenge to Rumsfeld
- Comprehensive collection of McGovern’s articles on AlterNet
- Full-text chapter of McGovern’s book “Neo-CONNED!”
- Interview with Paula Zahn (Video clip transcript)
- Firsthand accounts of Rumsfeld’s Atlanta speech (From The World Can’t Wait, a netroots organization dedicated to driving Bush from office)
- May 5 interview with Democracy Now!
- Column by The Nation’s John Nichols on how Rumsfeld used Colin Powell as a human shield against McGovern
- Truthout interview from June, 2003 (old by Internet standards, but brimming with a wealth of still-relevant insights)
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