Ray McGovern

(Ray has been wondering whether you can train indigenous, whose hearts are not in it, to kill cousins. Clues to the answer – and to the credibility of our generals – may be found by clicking on the links below.)

It has to be embarrassing when, at the sight of ISIL troops, the Iraqis, so diligently trained and equipped by Gen. David Petraeus and others, ran away when they should have charged forward. A review of the record shows that the hasty retreat was the result of a mistranslation, as the first clip (below) explains.

Never mind; this time U.S. Army linguists are performing due diligence to develop a less misunderstandable Arabic translation for the word “charge,” as U.S. trainers prepare to find and train Syrian “moderates.” When a bunch of “our (Syrian) guys” is located and given recruitment bonuses, the $500 million earmarked for training and equipping them will surely not go to waste this time around. Further reassurance can found in Petraeus’s strong support for what passes for the new “point of departure for our strategy” – bombing.

Click and laugh/weep:

Gen. David Petraeus’s Hands-On Training of Iraqi Army
Connie Bryan skit; uploaded on December 18, 2006; 6 minutes

Petraeus Comments on Iraqi Army and ISIL

Sadly, this one is not a skit; Bob Schieffer in role of straight man

Petraeus Strongly Supports Obama on Bombing ISIL

He calls it a “good point of departure for our strategy” (now that the Iraqi army has run away). Again, sadly, this is not a SNL skit.

Ray Sept. 18, 2014 presentation at California State University, Chico. Ray’s talk goes from minute 8 to 43; followed by panel discussion.

http://rcemedia.csuchico.edu/Mediasite/Play/de922643434d4fe29eb5f8eb084077941d

The morning after Ray took part in the U.S.-Russia Forum in Moscow (Sept. 8 & 9) he was interviewed by Alexandr Khristenko of Rossiya 1 TV for its 60 Minutes-type Sunday evening program ‘News of the Week,’ which aired on Sept. 14. Cameramen shot the video as Khristenko and Ray walked through the Arbat, an historic district of Moscow. The footage and commentary comprise roughly the second half of the program from minute 8:00 to 13:00.

http://www.vesti7.ru/news?id=43394

To see the video, click on the above link and then on the first button ‘видиорелортаж‘ (on the button you will see a small video camera) in upper left-hand corner; this will launch the TV program. (Ray hopes to find time soon to translate the text into English.)

​The segment bears the title: “Intelligence Veterans Summon Obama to Sanity,” and two of VIPS’ recent issuances are specifically cited:

1- Memorandum for the President; May 4; ‘Needed: Urgent Action on Ukraine’ (re need for a ceasefire followed by Obama-Putin summit); and

2- Memorandum for Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany; August 29; ‘Ukraine and NATO’ (urging Merkel to kick the tires of any intelligence cart rolled out by NATO allies with blemished records for trustworthiness).

Alexandr Khristenko also had conducted a ten-minute interview of Ray upon his arrival in Moscow on Sept. 7; that interview “looped” several times on TV channel Rossiya 24 on Sept. 8. Some of the English is audible under the dubbing:

http://www.vesti.ru/videos/show/vid/619374/#

(1 hour; plus Q & A)

DVD with the presentations of all 24 speakers at the National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel ‘Special Relationship,’ at the National Press Club on March 7, 2014, can be ordered at:

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/ (Scroll down the column on the right.)

DVD includes talks by Stephen Walt, Paul Findley, Paul Pillar, Phil Giraldi, Alison Weir, and Ray. As we posted last March, YouTube carried Ray’s 20-minunte talk, ‘Does Israel Act Like a U.S. Ally?’ at:

http://natsummit.org/video/Ray_McGovern.htm

Peter Van Buren homes in on the State Department’s BOLO (Be On Lookout) for Ray that has just been lifted, and puts into wider perspective the indignities Ray suffered for simply standing up quietly and turning his back on then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-van-buren/watchlists-and-the-first-_b_5882008.html

This is a significant first-step victory.

http://www.justiceonline.org/commentary/important-victory-in-case-of.html

The interview was not devoted to current crises per se — like Ukraine — but also to wider issues, including what draws Ray to activism. Here’s the link to the FULL INTERVIEW (you may wish to skip the commercials from 5:35 to 10:20)

The President spoke as Ray was winding up 12 days of speaking/interviews/etc. in northern California – mostly at colleges. En route to Santa Rosa from Sacramento, Ray took some notes on Obama’s fulsome rhetoric, found a quiet corner at a McDonalds, and gave this interview to Jeffrey Blankfort of KZYX, Mendocino. The conversation begins with the “howlers” that leap out of a speech that could have been written by Franz Kafka in his prime. Ray is asked to address other issues, as well – including Syria, Ukraine, and “wise-man” Bobby Gates. (35 min.)

http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/77349

On the 2nd day of the NATO summit (Sept. 5), Ray gave an interview in Berlin to Nadja Vancauwenberghe, Editor of “Exberliner Magazine.” The resulting article, published in English on Sept. 11, addresses the summit then under way and also includes in one convenient write-up a lot of what Ray has been saying/writing about Ukraine/NATO/Russia over recent months.

http://www.exberliner.com/features/people/ray-mcgovern/

In Moscow, Ray joins RT’s Crosstalk program with Gilbert Doctorow, Nicolai Petro, and host Peter Lavelle to discuss this issue against the background of Ukraine.

September 9, 2014 (25 min.)