From Truthout via Arcturus.
This is how it is done.
Editor’s Note: Ray McGovern and 15 others took action today 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, a 27-year veteran of the CIA, also returned his Intelligence Commendation Award medallion which was given to him for “especially commendable service.” He delivered the medal to Congressman Pete Hoekstra along with the letter below. –smg/TO
Hon. Pete Hoekstra, Chair
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Washington, DCDear Congressman Hoekstra:
As a matter of conscience, I am returning the Intelligence Commendation Award medallion given me for “especially commendable service” during my 27-year career in CIA. The issue is torture, which inhabits the same category as rape and slavery – intrinsically evil. I do not wish to be associated, however remotely, with an agency engaged in torture.
Reports in recent years that CIA personnel were torturing detainees were highly disturbing. Confirmation of a sort came last fall, when CIA Director Porter Goss and Dick Cheney – dubbed by the Washington Post “Vice President for Torture” – descended on Sen. John McCain to demand that the CIA be exempted from his amendment’s ban on torture. Subsequent reports implicated agency personnel in several cases of prisoner abuse in Iraq, including a few in which detainees died during interrogation.
The obeisance of CIA directors George Tenet and Porter Goss in heeding illegal White House directives has done irreparable harm to the CIA and the country – not to mention those tortured and killed. That you, as Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, show more deference to the White House than dedication to your oversight responsibilities under the Constitution is another profound disappointment. How can you and your counterpart, Sen. Pat Roberts, turn a blind eye to torture – letting some people get away, literally, with murder – and square that with your conscience?
If German officials who were ordered to do such things in the 1930s had spoken out early and loudly enough, the German people might have been alerted to the atrocities being perpetrated in their name and tried harder to stop them. When my grandchildren ask, “What did you do, Grandpa, to stop the torture,” I want to be able to tell them that I tried to honor my oath, taken both as an Army officer and an intelligence officer, to defend the Constitution of the United States – and that I not only spoke out strongly against the torture, but also sought a symbolic way to dissociate myself from it.
We Americans have become accustomed to letting our institutions do our sinning for us. I abhor the corruption of the CIA in the past several years, believe it to be beyond repair, and do not want my name on any medallion associated with it. Please destroy this one.
Yours truly,
Ray McGovern
Thank you Mr McGovern for speaking the truth in the halls where it needs to be heard. This is an example of the power held by others close to the system, career professionals, who can be heard when we voters are ignored. Thanks again for speaking out in my name.
It’s a hell of a gesture. After 27 years to ask them to destroy it. McGovern has my respect, and he has had it for a long time.
That’s the example of leadership the people need, or at least it’s the kind we want, in these times. We all have different voices and methods to get the message across. I remember Larry and Pat being a few of the first to speak out on other important issues and that earned my respect quickly. I first landed here when searches returned articles by Pat and Larry and the other great writers in the pond gave me reason to stick around. I understand it’s a complicated spectrum with mostly shades of grey, but some points in that spectrum are non-negotiable.
and, when the Democrats regain the White House on January 20, 2009, recommend him for CIA Director…or at least some high ranking position in the Agency…
May his courage inspire others to follow his example, and in the days to come, may the halls of that alleged congress swarm with people in orange jumpsuits, bound mouths emblazoned with that one word. Even politicians should be able to read one word.
What’s the most effective way to make sure no one hears about these brave patriots’ views?
The media only want to show up if there’s some sexy violence to film, and then the story is . . .
Now THAT’S how you wake the fuck up.
“What’s that???” you’re supposed to say.
“You mean…McGovern’s not been awake all along?”
Well, let me see…
It took him 27 years to figure out that “the CIA” was crooked???
From the JFK/MLK/RFK/’Malcolm X assisinations and the Waterrgate scam through Iran Contra/B.C.C.I/Allende/the Castro assassination attempts etc.?
Some analyst.
I knew it in 1963.
So did thousands of others.
But…I’m glad that he woke the fuck up. (If indeed he really did., of course…always reserve some sense of judgment when dealing with the funhouse mirrors of pro spookdom.)
Nice touch, the jumpsuits.
The past few years?
Oh.
I guess the REST of it was OK.
DO NOT BELIEVE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE “SUDDENLY” FINDING OUT THAT THINGS HAVE BEEN WRONG FOR 50+ YEARS.
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Ike knew 50 years ago, and he was as square as an old fedora.
Beware sudden friends.
AG
put on an orange jumpsuit and walk around congress with torture written on his mouth, and give back his CIA prize, then he deserves props for it.
If he is not sincere, then that will become evident, but maybe today he will have made one person think.
Maybe he is not ready to face more than the last few years yet. There are plenty of people who aren’t able to face even those.
We can’t know Ray’s heart. We can know he did a brave thing today, and we can hope he will continue on that path.
I agree.
That is why I wrote:
“Now THAT’S how you wake the fuck up.”
BUT…I want US to stay awake too.
AG
Better late than never as the old saying goes. But yeah, we need to be and stay awake. From a Jello Biafra lyric: “when everyone’s asleep, we must become alarm clocks.”
Talk about waking the fuck up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy shit!
Beware sudden friends.
Good words to remember!
Thanks Arthur.
Thanks for sharing this with us BooMan! Would have liked to see some of the congresscritters faces during his time with them today. Did any of this show up on any of the “News” shows?? My thanks to Mr. McGovern for speaking out about this national disgrace. Giving the medal back must not have been an easy thing to do on a personal level, but it sure put an exclamation point on their demonstration!