The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh, Security Advisor Juan Zarate Discuss the Secrets of National Security

Seymour Hersh's investigative reporting
has earned every major journalism award.
Image courtesy of U. of Minnesota.

CHESTERTOWN, MD—How does a democratic society, facing serious threats of terrorism, strike the right balance between the government’s need for secrecy and the public’s right to know? In a special event at Washington College on Monday, October 8, one of the nation’s preeminent investigative journalists and a top security analyst who has served in the front lines of counter-terrorism efforts will offer their answers and perspectives.

             “Secrecy, the Media and National Security,” a conversation with Pulitzer-Prize winning New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh and former Deputy National Security Advisor Juan Zarate will be moderated by Washington College president Mitchell B. Reiss. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 4:30 p.m. in Decker Theater, Gibson Center for the Arts, on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue. It is sponsored by the Goldstein Program in Public Affairs.

            “This is a special opportunity to hear true voices of experience address this complex and important issue from different perspectives,” says President Reiss. “We could not ask for a better expert to represent the view of journalists than the legendary Sy Hersh. And Juan Zarate brings great insight from his years in the thick of the battle to protect the country from an increasingly dangerous matrix of threats.”

            In a career that spans more than five decades, Seymour M. Hersh has won dozens of accolades and every important award in his profession, including a Pulitzer Prize, five George Polk Awards, and two National Magazine Awards. He earned the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting with his expose of the My Lai Massacre and its cover up during the Vietnam War. More than thirty years later, he was uncovering abuses at Abu Ghraib prison.

            Hersh wrote his first piece for The New Yorker in 1971 and has been a regular contributor since 1993, focusing heavily on military and security issues. He is the author of nine books, most recently Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib, and is currently at work on a volume about the Cheney vice-presidency.

Juan Zarate provides security analysis for CBS News.
Image courtesy of CBS News.

            Juan C. Zarate is Senior Adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS), national security analyst for CBS News, and a Visiting Lecturer at Harvard Law School. He served as Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism from 2005 to 2009. Today he advises companies and organizations on homeland security, financial-related terror risks, new  technologies and investments.

            In the George W. Bush Administration, Zarate was responsible for
 developing and overseeing implementation of the U.S. government’s counterterrorism
 strategy. He also oversaw policies related to transnational security threats, including counter-narcotics, 
maritime security and critical energy
infrastructure protection. 
Earlier, as the first Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for
 Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, Zarate expanded the Treasury Department's powers to advance national security interests. 



            Mitchell B. Reiss, a scholar in international affairs, became president of Washington College in July 2010 after serving as Dean and Vice Provost for International Affairs at the College of William & Mary. As Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department from 2003 to 2005, he provided Secretary Colin L. Powell with independent strategic advice.  And as the President’s Special Envoy for the Northern Ireland Peace Process from 2003 to 2007, he led historic progress towards ending “the Troubles.” In 1999 Reiss helped manage the start-up and operations of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, leading its negotiations with the North Koreans. His most recent book is Negotiating with Evil: When to Talk to Terrorists (2010, Open Road). 

Photos courtesy of University of Minnesota and CBS News.