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Ray McGovern is an Ex-CIA Analyst and a friend of Mary McCarthy who was fired by the CIA fom allegedly leaking classified information to reporters. McGovern is part of the group Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity which has been critical of the Bush Administration for the political use of National Security intelligence.
The opinion of the intelligence community is unanimous. In general, leaking of classified information is a firing offense, possible criminal and can pose a danger to America’s national interests. Ray McGovern agrees that leaks are dangerous and should not be condoned but he says that actions by the Bush Administration have created an “exceptional situation” where leaking may be the only choice for exposing illegal activities.
Ray McGovern says that the “war of aggression” on Iraq, the secret “black” prisons, torture, rendition and other activities are “war crimes”. The American people deserve to know when crimes are being committed by their government. McGovern says:
That’s the reason these prisons are overseas, because there is U.S. law, 18 U.S. Code 2441, the War Crimes Act, which forbids these activities, torture, rendition, putting people, disappearing people, and so forth. And so that’s why these things are created overseas.
But my point is: This is not American. This is not the country that we serve. And when we see this happening, somebody has to speak out.
This video contains about 10 minutes of clips from the interview with Ray McGovern. See PBS Newshour for an entire transcript. Cross posted at Veredictum.com
