Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
For "VIPs (Very Important Persons)", see Very Important Person.
Question book-new.svg
 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) is a group of current and former officials of the United States Intelligence Community, including some from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the U.S. State Department's Intelligence Bureau, and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). This group issued a letter before the 2003 invasion of Iraq stating that, "The narrow focus on Resolution 1441 has diverted attention from the wider picture. It is crucial that we not lose sight of that. Intelligence community analysts are finding it hard to make themselves heard above the drumbeat for war."[1] It also noted the various Gulf War-related illnesses which many returning soldiers contracted due to the presence of chemical and biological agents in Desert Storm.

The group was formed in January 2003 as a "coast-to-coast enterprise" to protest the use of faulty intelligence "upon which the US/UK invasion of Iraq was based."[2][3][4]

Contents

[edit] VIPS Steering Group

[edit] February 2003 Memo

On February 7, 2003, VIPS publicly released a "MEMORANDUM FOR: The President" criticizing Secretary Powell's speech before the United Nations, in part, because VIPS was afraid Saddam Hussein would use his chemical weapons against U.S. troops if the U.S. invaded. The memorandum was signed by the VIPS Steering Group including Richard Beske, Kathleen McGrath Christison, William Christison, Patrick Eddington, and Raymond McGovern.[3]

[edit] Former members

Kathleen Christison and William Christison, Santa Fe, NM - Resigned from VIPS 15 July 2003, over memo calling for Cheney’s resignation.[5] W. Patrick Lang, Alexandria, Virginia resigned over disagreement concerning the focus of VIPS.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links, References, & Footnotes

  1. ^ Memo For: President Bush Re: War on Iraq. Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. February 8, 2003.
  2. ^ We Are Perplexed at the US Refusal to Permit the Return of UN Inspectors to Iraq
  3. ^ a b CIA Veterans Speak Out
  4. ^ US should be "embarrassed" over failure to find WMDs: ex-spies
  5. ^ Kathleen and Bill Christison: Why We Resigned from VIPS
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veteran_Intelligence_Professionals_for_Sanity"