So REALLY: Why are we in Afghanistan? Iran? Iraq?

What: Public lecture by former CIA analyst Ray McGovern
When: Thursday February 23, 7:30 PM 
Where: First Congregational Church, 1000 S. Cooper St, Memphis
Free admission 

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst turned anti-war activist, will speak in Memphis on current US policy on Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.

McGovern served his country as a CIA analyst under seven presidents. Upon retirement, he was awarded the Intelligence Commendation Medal (which he later returned).

McGovern's loyalty is to his country, not its leaders, and in 2002 he publically criticized George W. Bush’s use of government intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq. In 2003, he co-founded the group Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. In January 2006, McGovern began to speak out on behalf of the anti-war group Not in Our Name. Today he leads the “Speaking Truth to Power” section of Tell the Word, an expression of the ecumenical Church of the Savior in inner-city Washington,and he teaches at its Servant Leadership School.

In February 2011 McGovern was arrested for a silent protest of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech at George Washington University. (Go to YouTube.com, enter “McGovern Clinton.”) Later that year he joined a group of activists who prepared to set sail to Gaza to challenge the blockade of Palestine.

McGovern has made several media appearances, including interviews in NBC, MSNBC, and CNN, and in “The Daily Show.” His essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, truthdig.org, and commondreams.org.

The event is sponsored by the Memphis chapter of Veterans for Peace, and is co-sponsored by the First Congregational Church, Caritas Village, Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, Pax Christi Memphis, and the Memphis School of Servant Leadership. In addition to his talk at the First Congo church, McGovern will also speak to students at Christian Brothers University (Feb. 22) and Rhodes College (Feb. 23).