Ray McGovern Under Pressure
By Hesham Tillawi, PhD June 30 2005
Early this morning my cell phone rang, halfway asleep I answered it. It was Ray McGovern. Ray said he very much regrets this decision but he could not appear on my Show, Current issues with Hesham Tillawi. I arranged the interview with Ray about three weeks ago, around the same time he was a witness in a congressional hearing called for by Michigan Congressman John Conyers. At the hearing Ray mentioned that one of the reasons for the US’s attack against Iraq was Israel.  Back to the phone call, Ray told me that because Mark Weber of IHR www.ihr.org  was on the show the week before therefore, he (Ray) needs to stay as far  away as possible from Mark at this time because “Mark believes that the Holocaust never happened.” 
On the way to the office I phoned Mark and asked him about the Holocaust stuff, Mark said he never ever said that the Holocaust never took place. Mark said: “I believe that some facts about the Holocaust have been exaggerated.” And that he would love to talk to Ray to explain his position. He praised Ray for his bravery in speaking out. 
I called Ray back and informed him of Mark denying ever making such a statement,  and I also informed him of the fact that Mark is not connected in any way with Current Issues. Current Issues interviewed Mark regarding an article he wrote titled: “Iraq: The war for Israel”. A small fact to mention here for whatever its worth, after reading Mark’s article I sent him an email inviting him to be on the show, but reading through my emails for that day there was another prior email from Mark requesting an interview on Current Issues. In my second conversation with McGovern he mentioned something that I felt  was very interesting and in a way exposed the real reason behind his decision, which again he reiterated that he was very much regretting it, to cancel the interview, which  in his own words went like this, he  needs to watch how far he can stretch his chain, and that he needs to think about the other people in his organization. 
It looks like they got to him. One comment about Israel and you’re doomed, done, finished. In his latest article about The Downing Street Memo he never once mentioned Israel. Yes it’s that bad in Washington, and yes, if you want to swim with the sharks, you better have some thing to feed them, because if you try to bite them, you will be swimming with the fishes, to borrow a line from the Godfather. In other words Ray is going through an assessment period, a damage control period, and maybe some apologies right now that he really did not mean it and to please give me another chance to repair my damage,  sort of attitude. I can only remember at this moment what Thomas Jefferson once said: “When the people fear the government you have tyranny, but when the government fears the people you have liberty.”  I hope Ray McGovern will always have the strength, courage, and conscience to speak out on issues important to our country. His 27 years service with the CIA should be put to serve the Stars and Stripes.  
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." - Thomas Jefferson
 
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation."--Thomas Jefferson