December 19, 2007 6:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — Former Central Intelligence Agency analyst Ray McGovern said
Monday night that he fears the United States will go to war with Iran before
the next American presidential election.

McGovern alleged that a joint U.S. and Israeli war on the Arab nation would likely
come despite a recent National Intelligence Estimate suggesting that Iran has
not had a functioning nuclear weapons program since 2003. He cited the close
American relationship with Israel, which he said considers Iran a threat, as a
driving force behind a potential strike.

The former analyst made his remarks at the Portsmouth Public Library as part
a speech which primarily covered Iran, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and faulty
intelligence in Iraq. He then fielded questions from the audience, mostly
centered around whether the current administration has altered intelligence
reports.

Notably, he claimed Vice President Dick Cheney was among those who
demanded intelligence reports which would infer Iraq's possession of
weapons of mass destruction in 2002 and 2003. He said legitimate reports
which stated that Iraq had no such weapons were deliberately ignored.

"I am disheartened by the prostitution of my profession," McGovern said.

McGovern also urged the audience to act and noted that he had been
arrested and convicted for refusing to leave the office of Michigan
Democratic Rep. John Conyers during a meeting.

Those who hope to prevent a military conflict in Iran should make their
voices heard, he said.

"You want to change things, then go and do it. The only other ingredient
is that you have to be willing to stick your necks out," he said.

McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years and prepared the morning
briefings for several presidents, including Ronald Reagan and
George H.W. Bush.

He told the Herald after the event that some of his information on current
administration issues comes from current and former CIA employees.

Attendee Mark Archambault said the message to take action resonated
with him.

"I take away the virtue of anger. If we feel anger arising from these issues,
we need to take that to heart and work for positive change," he said.

The event was sponsored by several area peace groups, including N.H.
Code Pink and Seacoast Peace Response.

written by Dave Choate
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originally published by Seacoastonline,
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071219/NEWS/712190374/-1/rss02