[Watch the Video on CNN] [Watch MSNBC Coverage]
[interviews with Ray McGovern]
[firsthand account from one of the disrupters]
5/4/06:
Rumsfeld’s speech at the Southern Center for International Studies in
Atlanta today was disrupted by World Can’t Wait activists and others. At the
beginning of the speech a woman stood up holding a banner reading
“Guilty of War Crimes!”, and shouted “I cannot stay silent, this man
needs to be in prison for war crimes” as she was dragged away by
security. Two more protesters stood up and disrupted the speech,
and another turned his back on his back on Rumsfeld.
During
the Q&A, Ray McGovern (a former CIA analyst who recently returned
his intelligence medal to Congress in protest of torture) asked
Rumsfeld “Why did you lie to get us into a war that caused these kind
of casualties and was not necessary?” Rumsfeld couldn’t muster
much of an answer besides claiming he didn’t lie, which McGovern then
refuted with a direct quote from Rumsfeld in the run-up to the Iraq
war. A woman whose son was killed in the Iraq war also asked
Rumsfeld whether the government would provide any help for her grandson.
In his speech, Rumsfeld talked about building “flexible military
partnerships” around the world outside of NATO (translation: ally with
regimes known to openly practice torture and human rights abuses).
When he was disrupted, Rumsfeld arrogantly joked (referring to the
protester), “I think we can count her as undecided”. Besides being
disgusting, this comment from Rumsfeld is also unoriginal – it’s the
same thing he said when he was disrupted by another World Can’t Wait
activist at the National Press Club in February.
What
happened in
Atlanta today is an example many more need to follow. CNN
reported that while the Bush regime is coming under more fire in their
public appearances (including in Rice’s much disrupted recent visits to
England, Australia, and Greece), this outbust was “beyond the
usual”. As retired generals are calling for Rumsfeld’s
resignation and government sponsored torture becomes more exposed, the
protests against Rumsfeld were right on time. The actions today
should serve as a clarion call to others that anywhere the
architects of torture and unjust war go, they should be called out for
their war crimes.
A firsthand account:
Today was a fine day in Atlanta, although I doubt that
Donald Rumsfeld feels the same way. He
was asked to come speak here today at the Atlanta History Center by the
Southern Center for International Studies and it was open to the public for
$40.00 a ticket. Several of us decided
to attend the event to let him and the world know what we think of him. So
several minutes into his speech an activist with World Can’t Wait Atlanta stood
up, unfolded a banner that said ‘Guilty of War Crimes’ as she screamed, ‘I
cannot be silent, this man should be in prison for his war crimes and crimes
against humanity. He personally ordered
widespread torture, an illegal and immoral war in Iraq, and is now planning a
nuclear war on Iran. We in the millions
need to stop these crimes and Drive Out the Bush Regime, The World Can’t
Wait!’ As she was escorted out of the
venue, she continued to scream ‘The World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush
Regime!’ Donald Rumsfeld responded with
his usual line after she was removed, ‘ I guess she is undecided.’ She was handcuffed and told that she would
be detained until they were told if Rumsfeld wanted to press charges.
As he continued his speech, another protester, a local peace
activist, stood up and turned his back on Rumsfeld. He was not removed from the
room and kept standing through the rest of the speech. He had a big sticker on
his jacket ‘Impeach Bush’ on the background of a Georgia peach. Rumsfeld continued
his speech as the protester stood with his back turned. A few minutes later, another local peace
activist stood up with a banner that read ‘Rumsfeld is a Serial Liar,’ and she
began to scream ‘you lied to the American people, you lied about WMDs, you lied
about the Iraqi nuclear program,’ as she was removed from the venue. And then just as they thought every thing
was back on track, a youth with the World Can’t Wait Atlanta got up and shouted
‘How can y’all sit here silent when you have a war criminal in front of you?’
As he was escorted out, he turned to the stage and said, ‘You are a war
criminal, Mr. Rumsfeld.’ All three of us who were removed from the venue were
temporarily detained then escorted off the property.
Ray McGovern, who is an ex-CIA analyst who participated in
the Bush Crimes Commission, was in town this week to receive an award from the
ACLU. He was able to get a ticket and
participated in the Q&A after Rumsfeld’s speech. He asked Rumsfeld about his lying about the WMD to get the backing
of the public to go to war with Iraq.
Rumsfeld basically blamed the lies on Bush and Colin Powell, and tried
to doubletalk his way around the accusations. Ray McGovern kept pressing and
wouldn’t let Rumsfeld wiggle out.
Before, during and after the event there was also a
demonstration outside in front of the Atlanta History Center. About 50 people attended, some people wore
the orange jumpsuits with black hoods.
They were very visible on a busy street with many cars showing
support. There was a lot of local media
coverage.
All night the news shows have covered the multifaceted
expressions of opposition during Rumsfeld’s visit. Our actions today were very
successful in that we were able to change the terms of debate from whether
Rumsfeld was incompetent, didn’t send enough troops to Iraq, didn’t plan for
the occupation, etc. to whether he is guilty of war crimes and whether he and
the Bush administration lied to justify the war.
A mock flyer was passed out to those attending Rumsfeld’s speech, which in part read:
Today’s
event includes a presentation by the Secretary, followed by Q & A. If you
plan to ask the Secretary a question, please adhere to the following
guidelines:
1. Refrain from using the word ‘liar’ in relation to the
war in Iraq.
2. Do not question the Secretary’s personal responsibility
for the torture of prisoners in Guantanamo,
Abu Ghraib, or elsewhere.
3. No discussion of plans for first use of nuclear weapons
against Iran
will be allowed.
If you violate these guidelines, you will be
immediately removed from the auditorium, flown to an undesignated prison
location somewhere in Eastern Europe, and tortured.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Interviews with Ray McGovern:
Democracy Now Interview with Ray McGovern
5/5/06: Democracy Now opened this morning
with the disruption of Rumsfeld’s speech by WCW activists, and a
subsequent exchange with Ray McGovern and Rumsfeld. DN interviewed Ray
McGovern:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/05/1432203
Ray: 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 Can’t 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.”
Transcript of CNN Interview (by Paula Zahn) with Ray McGovern:
ZAHN: Did you go to this speech today with the intent of challenging Secretary Rumsfeld?
MCGOVERN:
I had no predetermined objectives. I just wanted to see what he had to
say. But I did get very motivated when the first lady was ejected …
from the crowd.
ZAHN: What was it, then, that you wanted to accomplish by following her rather pointed question?
MCGOVERN:
Well, you know, she talked about lies. And I get very upset when Donald
Rumsfeld shakes his head and says, “Lies, gosh, lies. I hate it when
somebody says that our president would tell lies.”
Of course, she
hadn’t said the president; she said Rumsfeld. But he said that lies are
fundamentally destructive of the trust, without which government cannot
work.
And that’s true. And I found myself really agreeing with that.
ZAHN:
Essentially, what he told you is: I never said exactly where the
weapons of mass destruction were. I was referring to, we had a pretty
darn good idea where the sites were. … Do you buy what he said today?
MCGOVERN:
His words [in 2003] were: “We know where — where the WMD are. They’re
near Tikrit and Baghdad, and north, south, east, and west of there.”
That’s a direct quote.
And when he used that wonderful non
sequitur by looking at the uniformed personnel in the front row and
saying: “Well, they went in with protective gear; they certainly
thought there were weapons of mass destruction there.” Well, my
goodness, of course, they did. Because you, Donald Rumsfeld, told them
that they were there.
And, you know, it’s not polite to say this,
but that was a bald-faced lie. And … he should have owned up to it,
if he wants there to be a modicum of trust.
ZAHN: How much of an ax do you have to grind with Secretary Rumsfeld?
MCGOVERN: It’s not a matter of axes to grind. It’s a matter of telling the truth.
And
we pledged, in my day at the CIA, to tell it without fear or favor, to
tell it like it is. And, when I see that corrupted, that is the real
tragedy of this whole business.
ZAHN: There was a point where it appeared as though you were going to get kicked out.
MCGOVERN: Yes.
ZAHN:
Donald Rumsfeld encouraged whoever I think had their hands on you at
the time to let you stay there. Does he get any credit for that today?
MCGOVERN: At first, I thought, “Well, that was rather gracious.”
But,
then I got to thinking, I was not abusing the privilege. I was simply
asking pointed questions. And for the national TV audience to see me
carted away for asking Rumsfeld to explain what any objective observer
would call a lie, that wouldn’t have been good PR.
So, yes, I’m glad he let me stay. But I think it was for self-interested reasons.