Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

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Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) is a group of current and former intelligence officers, including some from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who opposed the use of what they consider 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". It consists of a few intelligence officers of the CIA, as well as the U.S. State Department's Intelligence Bureau and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). [1][2][3]

1 VIPS Steering Group
2 Former members
3 Correspondence
4 News Stories
5 Contact
6 See also
7 External links

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VIPS Steering Group

Richard Beske, San Diego, CA
Patrick G. Eddington, Alexandria, VA
David MacMichael, Linden, VA
Raymond McGovern, Arlington, VA
Larry C. Johnson, Washington, DC
Gene Betit, Arlington, VA
Ray Close
Greg Theilmann
W. Patrick Lang

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Former members

Kathleen Christison and William Christison, Santa Fe, NM - Resigned from VIPS 15 July 2003, over memo calling for Cheney’s resignation.[4]

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Correspondence

7 February 2003: VIPS MEMORANDUM sent to President George W. Bush (published in Common Dreams).
15 February 2003: VIPS: "CIA says NO. U.S. Intelligence Officers Say Bush Out of His Mind on Iraq War" by Ray McGovern for NowToronto.com.
16 March 2003: VIPS MEMORANDUM: "Memorandum for Confused Americans. Cooking Intelligence for War" posted at LI Politics Message Board Forum by Ray McGovern: Appended and translated March 6, 2003, transcript from German Channel One's Panorama interview with former CIA officers, including Ray McGovern and David MacMichael, "to discuss the use/abuse of intelligence to support the US administration's case for attacking Iraq."
18 March 2003: VIPS "Memo to the President: Forgery, Hyperbole, Half-Truth: A Problem" posted Timothy D. O'Hare on March 20, 2003 -- "Veteran US Spooks Strongly Doubt Bush's Iraq Case" -- at ForeignPolicy.com.
26 April 2003: VIPS Memorandum: "The Stakes in the Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction" by David MacMichael and Ray McGovern; "Weapons of Mass Distraction: Where? Find? Plant?" in Scoop.
1 May 2003: "Intelligence Officers Challenge Bush" - VIPS Memorandum for the President: "Intelligence Fiasco" at BNfP.org; Also.
17 May 2003: "The Moment of Lies Has Arrived" by Hwaa Irfan, Staff Writer, IslamOnline: VIPS credited with bringing "to light" the forged Iraqi documents that were "supposed to provide evidence for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction."
19 May 2003: VIPS Letter sent via fax to Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations: "We Are Perplexed at the US Refusal to Permit the Return of UN Inspectors to Iraq" (published in Dissident Voice, May 21, 2003). Also at Truthout.
25 May 2003: VIPS: Opinion: "U.N. needs inspectors to return to Iraq", Birmingham News.
14 July 2003: "Cheney Must Go", an open letter to Pres. Bush published by Salon.com.

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News Stories

14 March 2003: "Ex-CIA Officers Defy Bush Administration" by John J. Lumpkin, Associated Press Writer.
17 March 2003: "Ex-CIA Accuse Bush of Manipulating Iraq Evidence", AP: "The 25-member group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, composed mostly of former CIA analysts along with a few operational agents, is urging employees inside the intelligence agency to break the law and leak any information they have that could show the Bush administration is engineering the release of evidence to match its penchant for war."
22 March 2003: "CIA Officials Doubted Documents Linking Iraq to Efforts to Purchase Uranium from Niger" and communicated those doubts to the Bush Administration, reports the Washington Post, but President Bush nevertheless cited the allegations in his State of the Union address.
4 April 2003: "Some worry U.S. may bend facts for policy", SunSpot.net (cached article from Disinfopedia, the encyclopedia of propaganda).
18 April 2003: "US should be 'embarrassed' over failure to find WMDs: ex-spies", AFP.
18 April 2003: "Former CIA Agents: Not Finding WMD in Iraq, Embarrassing to US" by Republicons Staff.
26 May 2003: "CIA: Sinned Against or Sinning?" by B. Raman, South Asia Analysis Group. Items 17 and 18 re VIPS in particular.
30 May 2003: "Save Our Spooks" by Nicholas D. Kristof, Op-ed columnist, The New York Times.
1 June 2003: "US security men accuse Bush of twisting facts," The International News (Pakistan).
3 June 2003: "Story: Ray McGovern of Veterans Intelligence Professionals for Sanity Analyzes Private Conversation Between Powell and Straw Regarding Iraq's WMDs"; "live" interview with Pacifica's Peacewatch: "Peacewatch talked with Ray McGovern, a 27-year CIA veteran and a member of the steering committee of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity or VIPS. McGovern served as an "All Intelligence Agent" during the Reagan White House."
10 June 2003: "Intelligence questions" by Peter H. Stone, National Journal: DCI George J. Tenet "...in a written statement defended intelligence on Iraq, saying that the 'integrity of our process was maintained throughout, and any suggestion to the contrary is simply wrong.' ... Tenet's statement came in response to a memo written to Bush, and posted on some Internet sites, by a group of retired CIA and State analysts known as Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity."
23 June 2003: "Will Heads Roll over Faulty Intelligence about Iraq?" in Business Week Online, Richard S. Durham, Ed.: "Tenet, a holdover from the William Jefferson Clinton Administration, is caught in the crossfire. 'Most of my colleagues think it's only a matter of time before Tenet is fired,' says Raymond McGovern."
2 July 2003: "Veteran Intelligence Professional Ray McGovern: Bush administration slanted evidence prior to war"; live interview: "In this commentary for Peace Watch Ray McGovern points to an unusual pattern on the part of Vice President Dick Cheney to visit the CIA headquarters, which he did 27 times prior to the invasion."
The Burden of Truth Two former CIA analysts talk about the lies behind the Iraq war and the heavy weight of conscience. by Rose Marie Berger and Jim Rice. November-December 2003 (Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 22-25). Cover. Whether the President was aware of all the chicanery around him or not, I don't know - but I ask you, which would be worse? Sojourners Christians for Justice and Peace
The Burden of Truth: Full Transcript Web Exclusive! Full transcript of interviews with former CIA analysts. by Rose Marie Berger and Jim Rice. November-December 2003 (Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. ). Sojourners Christians for Justice and Peace