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Exclusive: 27-Year CIA Vet says Obama May be Afraid of the CIA ... For Good Reason... - Printable Version

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Exclusive: 27-Year CIA Vet says Obama May be Afraid of the CIA ... For Good Reason... - Magda Hassan - 18-09-2009

Nice to see James Douglass' book getting a mention.

Exclusive: 27-Year CIA Vet says Obama May be Afraid of the CIA ... For Good Reason...
Alluding to the assassination of JFK, long-time high-level CIA analyst says Panetta and the President 'afraid of these guys because these guys have a whole lot to lose if justice takes its course'...


During my interview last night with 27-year CIA analyst Ray McGovern on the Mike Malloy Show (which I've been guest hosting all this week), the man who used to personally deliver the CIA's Presidential Daily Briefings to George Bush Sr., among other Presidents, offered an extraordinarily chilling thought --- particularly coming from someone with his background. In a conversation at the end of the hour (audio and transcript below), as I was trying to pin him down for an opinion on whether or not he felt it was appropriate for CIA Director Leon Panetta to have reportedly attempted to block a lawful investigation into torture and other war crimes committed by the CIA, McGovern alluded to a book about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and noted he felt it likely that both Panetta and President Obama may have reason to fear certain elements of the CIA.
"Let me just leave you with this thought," he said, "and that is that I think Panetta, and to a degree President Obama, are afraid --- I never thought I'd hear myself saying this --- I think they're afraid of the CIA."...
McGovern went on to note "the stakes are very high here," in relation to Attorney General Eric Holder's recently announced investigation of the CIA now under the direction of Panetta. "His main advisers and his senior staff are liable for prosecution for war crimes. The War Crimes statute includes very severe penalties, including capital punishment for those who, if under their custody, detainees die. And we know that at least a hundred have, so this is big stakes here."
He then recommended James W. Douglass' new book, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters[Image: ir?t=tbb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1570757550].
"He makes a very very persuasive case that it was President Kennedy's, um, the animosity that built up between him and the CIA after the Bay of Pigs, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, because he was reaching out to the Russians and so forth and so on. It's a very well-researched book and his conclusion is very alarming," the long-time CIA veteran noted in what turned out to be a chilling end to our interview in which he described "two CIAs".
One, he says, was created by President Truman to "give him the straight scoop without any fear or favor. And then its covert action arm, which really doesn't believe --- which doesn't belong in this agency." McGovern referred to that CIA "advisedly" as the President's "own personal gestapo" which acts without oversight by the Congressional committees once tasked to do so.
"And so if you're asking why Obama and Panetta are going very very kid-glove-ish with the CIA, I think part of the reason, or the explanation is they're afraid of these guys because these guys have a whole lot to lose if justice takes its course."
"So, it's pretty scary. Yes, it is," he concluded.
* * *
• The complete audio archive of the entire interview (appx. 37 mins.) can be download here or heard online here...

• The final few minutes (appx. 6 mins) containing the conversation described above, as transcribed below, can be heard here...

The transcript of the above-described 9/10/09 conversation between Brad Friedman and 27-year CIA analyst Ray McGovern on the Mike Malloy Show, follows below...
BRAD FRIEDMAN: Was it appropriate, in your opinion, for Panetta to try to block this lawful investigation into torture by Eric Holder's investigation. Is that the appropriate thing for a CIA Director to do? RAY MCGOVERN: Well, you and I know that it's not appropriate if he's Director. If he sees his role as the agency's lawyer --- which apparently he does --- then there's nothing unlawful about him pleading their special causes. The stakes are very high here. His main advisers and his senior staff are liable for prosecution for war crimes. The War Crimes statute includes very severe penalties, including capital punishment...
BF: Yeah...
RM: ... for those who, if under their custody, detainees die. And we know that at least a hundred have, so this is big stakes here.
And let me just leave you with this thought, and that is that I think Panetta, and to a degree President Obama, are afraid --- I never thought I'd hear myself saying this --- I think they're afraid of the CIA.
And you look in history...look to the incredible book written recently by Jim Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable[Image: ir?t=tbb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1570757550]. He makes a very very persuasive case that it was President Kennedy's, um, the animosity that built up between him and the CIA after the Bay of Pigs, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, because he was reaching out to the Russians and so forth and so on. It's a very well-researched book and his conclusion is very alarming.
And so if you're asking why Obama and Panetta are going very very kid-glove-ish, with the CIA, I think part of the reason, or the explanation is they're afraid of these guys because these guys have a whole lot to lose if justice takes its course. And that's why I think Attorney General Holder is to be applauded.
I'm really just delighted to have somebody from The Bronx, where I grew up, try to do something to wipe out the blot that Colin Powell has put on The Bronx.
BF: Even though its a narrow investigation, you still applaud it. But Ray McGovern, 27-year CIA analyst, you're saying that there is reason to be concerned about the CIA --- that Barack Obama should be concerned.
Having been there 27 years, I guess you know what you're talking about. Uh...but that's a chilling thought I gotta say, Ray.
RM: Well, read the book. James Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable[Image: ir?t=tbb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1570757550]. Uh, Brad, as you probably know, there are two CIAs. Okay? The one that was set up by Truman to give him the straight scoop without any fear or favor. And then its covert action arm, which really doesn't believe --- which doesn't belong in this agency --- but is the one that is entitled, so to speak, by one sentence in the National Security Act of 1947 which says 'the Director of Central Intelligence shall perform such other functions and duties as the President shall direct.'
That gives the President the ability to use the CIA as his own personal gestapo --- and I use the word advisedly --- the only check on that are what used to be called the oversight committees of Congress, now they're called the overlooked committees of the Congress...
BF: Indeed.
RM: So it's pretty scary. Yes, it is.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7408

Exclusive: 27-Year CIA Vet says Obama May be Afraid of the CIA ... For Good Reason... - Jan Klimkowski - 18-09-2009

Ray McGovern is a genuine insider.

He also knows the real Robert Gates, boy and man, as well as anyone, having witnessed his rise through the spooky ranks at first hand.

McGovern, with his carefully considered nuances, is always worth listening carefully to...

Exclusive: 27-Year CIA Vet says Obama May be Afraid of the CIA ... For Good Reason... - Dawn Meredith - 11-10-2009

I have read this article now several times. Ray McGovern is really pussy footting around. One has to have read JFKU to really know what the hell he is talking about. Makes me wonder of Panetta or Obama have actually read this book. (Not like anyone is going to tell us).

I wonder if the Peace prize was a veiled warning. Not that I see Obama making peace overtures, quite the opposite, but just in case he were "to turn".

Dawn

Exclusive: 27-Year CIA Vet says Obama May be Afraid of the CIA ... For Good Reason... - Jan Klimkowski - 11-10-2009

Dawn - with respect, Ray McGovern is a real top level insider.

Quote:McGovern was a mid-level officer in the CIA in the 1960s where his focus was analysis of Soviet policy toward Vietnam. McGovern was one of President Ronald Reagan's intelligence briefers from 1981-85; he was in charge of preparing daily security briefs for Reagan, Vice President George H.W. Bush, the National Security Advisor, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Cabinet. Later, McGovern was one of several senior CIA analysts who prepared the President's Daily Brief (PDB) during the first Bush administration.

Upon retirement, McGovern was awarded the Intelligence Commendation Medal from Bush (which he later returned, see below) and worked for Washington-based non-profits before becoming co-director of the Servant Leadership School in Washington.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_mcgovern

McGovern also had extensive dealings with a young Robert Gates, and loathes him and his bag-carrying life.

I know people who have worked with McGovern. He has been both very helpful and far more outspoken in private.

Is McGovern all the way out? Probably not. I'm not sure any lifelong, top level, spook is ever all the way out...

Ray McGovern is on his own, deeply personal, journey.