Melvin Goodman: Trump war on US governance. 42 years in US intelligence and DC

Intelligence expert, Melvin Allan Goodman is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. Author of the widely acclaimed: Whistleblower at the CIA, Mel, ended his decades long career (1960-1990) career at the CIA (senior analyst and Division Chief), as he vehemently began opposing the growing ethical ground of developing biased culture at the CIA. Strongly opposing the appointment of Robert Gates as CIA Director (1992), Goodman charged before a Senate hearing that Gates had subverted "the process and the ethics of intelligence." Melvin, an adjunct professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University has currently contributed to the publication: "Rocket Man: Nuclear Madness and the mind of Donald Trump". Melvin's 42-year government career included tours at the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense’s National War College, where he was a professor of international security. His books on international security also include: “National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism;” “Bush League Diplomacy: How the Neoconservatives are Putting the World at Risk;” “The Wars of Eduard Shevardnadze;” “The Phantom Defense: America’s Pursuit of the Star Wars Illusion;” “The End of Superpower Conflict in the Third World,” and “Gorbachev’s Retreat: The Third World.”

His articles and opeds have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, Foreign Policy; Harper’s Magazine; the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; and the Foreign Service Journal. His TV appearances include the PBS Newshour; the Amy Goodman Show; NBC; and CBS. His lectures have included: World Affairs Council and the Council on Foreign Relations.

“Whistleblower at the CIA offers a fascinating glimpse into the secret, behind-the-scenes world of U.S. intelligence. Melvin A. Goodman’s first-person account into the systematic manipulation of intelligence at the CIA underscores why whistleblowing is so important, and why the institutional obstacles to it are so intense. Goodman exposes a lot of dirty linen, boldly naming names—not only Agency insiders but journalistic gatekeepers—a very enlightening backstage account of major historical events and how the public has been kept uninformed about them: dangerously so, in terms of our democracy and of many lost lives. Like the high level assessments he was trained to produce at the CIA, Whistleblower draws from many sources. It is part memoir, part analysis of open sources. At its core it’s an invaluable historical exposé, a testimony to integrity and conscience, and a call for the U.S. intelligence community to keep its top leaders in check. Urgent, timely, and deeply recommended.”

—Daniel Ellsberg

His forthcoming book is American Carnage: Donald Trump’s War on Intelligence” (City Lights Publishers, 2019)

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