Why He Took On Rumsfeld: Ray McGovern Talks to Democracy Now!

JUAN GONZALEZ: And when Secretary Rumsfeld responds about the troops believing that there were chemical weapons, because they were wearing uniforms or chemical suits. Your response?
RAY McGOVERN: Well, talk about that disingenuity. I mean, sure, they wore chemical [suits], because Rumsfeld and his generals ordered them to. This proves nothing, other than they went through with this charade. The Australian troops wore no such protective covering, because they knew there were no weapons there. The Australians knew these weapons were a figment of the propaganda put out by our Defense Department, so they blithely went in there without any protective covering. So it was all a charade.
And I suppose the good news is that finally someone had a chance to ask Don Rumsfeld -- if I were in Washington, I never would have got into a session where Rumsfeld spoke. I have to give him credit that he took questions and answers. But, you know, it's really interesting that when 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 Cannot 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.

That's from Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez's interview with Ray McGovern ("Retired CIA Analyst Ray McGovern Takes on Rumsfeld Over Justification for Iraq Invasion") who confronted Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense) at an Atlanta speaking engagement. Among other questions, McGovern asked Rumsfeld, "And so, I would like to ask you to be up front with the American people. Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary and that has caused these kinds of casualties? Why?"

It was an important moment. But we surfed around and see links not to Democracy Now!'s interview but to CNN's. Was there a fear that Anderson Cooper might burst into tears if he didn't grab a healthy portion of online shout outs?

It's interesting because this is the same CNN that's failed the viewers and now wants to spit in their faces with the hiring of Glenn Beck. Having seen the net prop up Aaron Brown throughout his mediocre reign at CNN, we're puzzled that so many are back in the prop up game?

Independent media interviewed Ray McGovern. But for some reason the "natural" response is to go to CNN?

We can talk about supporting independent media and it's importance but it's meaningless if, when we can choose between or corporate media, we give our traffic to corporate media.

If you missed the news of McGovern, the link above will tell you all that you need to know. If you learned of it outside of independent media, we'd suggest you utilize the link and support independent media.

Call it "indymedia," call it "alternative media," call it whatever you care. But until we're willing to support it, reference it and utilize it, we're enabling the corporate media.