McGovern walked into the lion's den of the military industrial complex to deliver his broadside against Rumsfeld.

***Wayne Masden Report***

May 5, 2006 -- Yesterday in Atlanta, former CIA officer Ray McGovern asked War Minister Donald Rumsfeld the questions that seemed to have evaded the Pentagon Press Corps ever since the foolhardy invasion and occupation of Iraq -- namely, why did Rumsfeld lie about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and links between "Al Qaeda" and Saddam Hussein? While much deserved attention was focused by a Johnny-come-lately media on Rumsfeld's lies, it is also important to examine the GOP-friendly group that sponsored Rumsfeld's appearance -- the Southern Center for International Studies or SCIS, which, not surprisingly is an anagram of the Henry Kissinger contrivance in Washington -- the CSIS, Center for Strategic and International Studies. Like CSIS, SCIS is a creature of Wall Street and the military-industrial complex. SCIS's web site proudly announces that it is a member of the World Affairs Councils of America, a Washington, DC-based lobbying entity located at 1800 K Street. And where is CSIS located? Voila! -- 1800 K Street. Who is on the board of trustees of CSIS? Well, for starters there is David Rubinstein, co-founder and Managing Director of war-profiteering Carlyle Group.

One of the Pentagon's top contractors, Northrop Grumman, is a major financial sponsor of the World Affairs Councils, including SCIS. Among SCIS's trustees is John Rice, the Vice Chairman of General Electric, another big Pentagon contractor. To make the non-profit group look respectable, the trustees and board members include a few high society "rent-a-blacks" (an apt term recently used by former Washington Mayor Marion Barry), including Bush I Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Louis Sullivan and Jimmy Carter's UN Ambassador Andrew Young.

McGovern walked into the lion's den of the military industrial complex to deliver his broadside against Rumsfeld. The largely middle-aged Southern white businessmen in the audience who applauded Rumsfeld and had their heavies remove protestors are slopping at the trough of Rumsfeld's bloated war budget. Their oinks were as distinctive as their applause for Rumsfeld.