Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

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For "VIPs (Very Important Persons)", see Very Important Person.

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 warning that there would be horrific casualties due to Iraq's WMDs and desire to use them. This letter noted the Gulf War Syndrome which many returning soldiers complained of as evidence of poison gas used in Desert Storm. This group later began to be critical of what they considered the use of flawed intelligence to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The group was formed in January 2003 "to speak out on the use of intelligence to justify the war," as "a coast-to-coast enterprise". [1] [2] [3]

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. [4]

[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 over disagreement concerning the focus of VIPS.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links, References, & Footnotes

  1. ^ http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles5/VIPS_UN-Inspectors.htm
  2. ^ http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0207-04.htm
  3. ^ http://www.spacewar.com/2003/030417232627.crweaphw.html
  4. ^ http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0207-04.htm
  5. ^ http://www.counterpunch.org/christison07152003.html
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