Progressive Commentary Hour w/Gary Null - RAY McGOVERN & DAVID VINE on Obama’s Militarism - 07/23/12

Summary: The military legacy of President Obama and expansion of the American empire with distinguished guests Ray McGovern and Prof. David Vine. Vine is professor of Anthropology at American University and author of 'Island of Shame: the Secret history of the US Military Base on Diego Garcia' Ray McGovern served as an Army intelligence officer and a CIA analyst from the administration of John F. Kennedy to that of George H. W. Bush. Among his duties was preparing the President’s Daily Brief, which he briefed one-on-one to President Ronald Reagan’s most senior national security advisers. Since retiring from government service, he has been one of our nation’s most vocal peace activists and journalists. As an act of conscience, in 2006 Ray returned the Intelligence Commendation Medallion given him at retirement for “especially meritorious service.” In 2003, he helped create Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) to expose the way intelligence was being falsified to “justify” war on Iraq. Ray’s opinion pieces appear in many leading newspapers here and abroad, including a major section in an important book, “Neocon’d Again” dealing with America’s war in Iraq. He holds degrees in theology and philosophy from Fordham University, is a graduate from Harvard Business School and has a certificate of theology from Georgetown University.