December 27, 2006 Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann
Flynt Leverett served as an analyst at the CIA and on the National Security Council of George W. Bush. His wife Hillary Mann "a former Foreign Service officer, participated in the United States discussions with Iran from 2001 to 2003." Together, they know a good deal about how the Bush administration blew the possibilities for negotiations with Iran in the wake of 9/11. So they penned an op-ed for the New York Times detailing why the Busheviks could have possibly avoided the threat of war with Iran, but failed at every turn. Leverett had the commentary cleared by the CIA, which they approved without censoring it because it was based on publicly available statements and information. But the White House political apparatus didn't want a prominent, informed analysis of their Iraq II tale of deceit concerning Iran, so they had the CIA redact large portions of the op-ed for public relations, not national security reasons. Leverett didn't take this affront to truth lying down. He spoke out forcefully and vigorously denouncing Soviet style censorship by the Bush administration. In a follow-up explanation of the censored document, Leverett and Mann note that "In the entrance to the C.I.A.'s headquarters the words of the Gospel of John are inscribed, 'And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.'" They add, "National security must be above politics. In a democracy, transparency in government has to be honored and protected." For standing up so vocally for democracy and the public's right to be free of the political manipulation of the truth, we honor Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann with this week's BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award. * * * Nominated by: BuzzFlash.com
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