Former CIA analyst to visit Memphis

Former CIA officer Ray McGovern will be speaking on United States' involvement in the Middle East Thursday at the First Congregational Church in Midtown.

Veterans for Peace is sponsoring the free presentation titled "So Really: Why are we in Iraq? Afghanistan? Iran?" that will begin at 7:30 p.m.

McGovern is a retired CIA analyst turned activist who has openly criticized federal officials for what he calls their "mishandling" of intelligence information leading to wars in the Middle East.

During his time with the CIA, he served under seven presidents, from John F. Kennedy to the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, for whom he prepared the President's Daily Brief.

"He speaks from the point of view of someone who has been on the inside," said José B. Dávila, who helped Veterans for Peace organize the event. "He knows a lot of tendencies and ways of thinking of the U.S. government, especially the way they relate to available evidence."

At Thursday's event, McGovern will be speaking on what lies behind the U.S. transition from the war in Iraq to the new escalation with Iran, Dávila said.

"He'll be talking about how we can go that way and what the common threats one sees between the three," he said.

Dávila said McGovern enjoys speaking with students and has organized visits to both Christian Brothers and Rhodes Universities.

McGovern will also be presenting at CBU at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Spain auditorium of Buckman Hall and at Rhodes at 4 p.m. in the Orgill Room in Clough Hall.  Both are free and open to the public.

Dávila said he tried to organize a lecture by McGovern at The University of Memphis, but his contact never responded.

McGovern began his activism after retiring 10 years ago, though his criticism of intelligence reporting began in the late 1990s.

He is known for his dissent against the war in Iraq as well as his requests for a new investigation on the details of Sept. 11, 2001.

He gained popularity after confronting Donald Rumsfeld during a question and answer session in 2006 about the mistaken intelligence evidence that led to the Iraq war.

Last year, he was arrested for silently standing with his back to Hillary Clinton as she delivered a speech on the Arab Spring's popular movement towards democratic freedom in the Middle East. He said he was protesting her hypocrisy.