David MacMichael

David MacMichael is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst. A ten-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, he was a counter-insurgency expert in South-East Asia for four years.[1] He also served as an analyst for the National Intelligence Council from 1981-1983. MacMichael graduated with an MA and Ph.D. in History from the University of Oregon.

MacMichael resigned from the CIA in July 1983 because he felt the Agency was misrepresenting intelligence for political reasons.[2] His public resignation from the Agency gave credence and notability to his vocal indictment of the Reagan Administration's policy toward Central America.[3] He was considered the "key witness" in Nicaragua v. United States. The case was heard in 1986 before the International Court of Justice, which ruled that the United States had violated international law by supporting the Contras in their war against the Nicaraguan government and by mining Nicaragua's harbors. MacMichael also testified in front of Congress on this matter.[4]

A former investigator for the Christic Institute, he was an outspoken critic of the Institute's reliance on conspiracy theory, arguing that the Institute "was eager, perhaps overeager, to demonstrate that this enterprise was responsible for everything since Cain slaying Abel."<[5] In July 2005, he testified at a special joint hearing of Congressional and Senate Democrats about the consequences of the Plame affair.

MacMichael is a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), founding member of Association of National Security Alumni and the Association for Responsible Dissent,[6] and an outspoken critic of the Iraq War and the Bush Administration. He has participated in six documentary films from 1988-2003. Journalist John Pilger has described him as a "CIA renegade."[7]

In August 2014 he was among the signatories of an open letter by the group Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity to German chancellor Angela Merkel in which they urged the Chancellor to be suspicious of U.S. intelligence regarding the alleged invasion of Russia in Eastern Ukraine.[8]

MacMichael is a founding member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.[9] In September 2015 MacMichael and 27 other members of VIPS steering group wrote a letter to the President challenging a recently published book, that claimed to rebut the report of the United States Senate Intelligence Committee on the Central Intelligence Agency's use of torture.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Jonathan Steele, "The CIA man who turned to the Nicaraguans / Profile of David MacMichael," The Guardian (9 January 1985).
  2. ↑ Philip Taubman, "In from the Cold and Hot for Truth," New York Times (11 June 1984) p. B6.
  3. ↑ See Philip Taubman, "In from the Cold and Hot for Truth," New York Times (11 June 1984) p. B6; "Moynihan: data lacking on Nicaragua arms traffic," Christian Science Monitor (14 June 1984) p. 2; "Nicaragua, Pro and Contra" New York Times (18 June 1984) p. A18; Joan Edwards, "Reagan's charges 'total untruths,' ex-CIA man says," Globe and Mail (29 June 1984).
  4. ↑ Shirley Christian, "Nicaragua's American Lawyers Prepare Case," New York Times (8 September 1985) p.23; Associated Press, "Ex-CIA Aide Testifies in The Hague," New York Times (14 September 1985) p. 3.
  5. ↑ Barringer, Felicity (March 17, 1989). "THE LAW; Giving Law Teeth (and Using Them on Lawyers)". The New York Times. p. B4. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Ex-CIA spies set up group fighting to ban covert action" Toronto Star (27 November 1987) p. A3.
  7. ↑ John Pilger, "Having a fun time in New Orleans: the latest recruits (sorry, 'alumni') of latter-day Reaganism," New Statesman (13 November 1998).
  8. ↑ The State Department Says Russia Is Invading Ukraine—Should We Believe It?, The Nation, September 2, 2014
  9. ↑ Andy Worthington (2015-09-15). "28 Veterans of US Intelligence Fight Back Against CIA Claims That the Bush Torture Program Was Useful and Necessary". Archived from the original on 2015-09-28.
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