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Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) is a group of former officers of the United States Intelligence Community. It was formed in January 2003 "to expose the way intelligence was being falsified to 'justify' war on Iraq." VIPS has issued a series of memoranda and statementson US military and foreign-policy issues.

February 2003 memo

On 5 Feb 2003, VIPS publicly released a "Memorandum for The President" criticizing Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations. The memo stated: 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. It also noted the various Gulf War-related illnesses which many returning soldiers contracted due to the presence of chemical and biological agents in Operation Desert Storm. The memorandum was signed by the VIPS Steering Group, then consisting of Richard Beske, Kathleen Christison, William Christison, Patrick Eddington, and Ray McGovern.

The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof at the time described that widespread outrage among intelligence professionals had led to the establishment of VIPS.After the CIA chief weapons inspector David Kay in 2004 announced no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction could be found in Iraq, Michael W. Robbins opined in Mother Jones: The group, "Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity," has produced some of the most credible, and critical, analyses of the Bush Administration's handling of intelligence data in the run-up to the March, 2003 invasion of Iraq.

July 2003 memo

On 14 Jul 2003, VIPS published a memo calling for an investigation into US intelligence fabrications and failures prior to the second Iraq War. Kathleen Christison and William Christison resigned from VIPS over its call for Cheney's resignation.

August 2010 memo

On 3 Aug 2010, VIPS published a memo to President Bush:

We write to alert you to the likelihood that Israel will attack Iran as early as this month. This would likely lead to a wider war.

Israel’s leaders would calculate that once the battle is joined, it will be politically untenable for you to give anything less than unstinting support to Israel, no matter how the war started, and that U.S. troops and weaponry would flow freely. Wider war could eventually result in destruction of the state of Israel.

This can be stopped, but only if you move quickly to pre-empt an Israeli attack by publicly condemning such a move before it happens.

December 2016 memo

On 12 Dec 2016, VIPS published a memo disputing claims of Russian hacking of the 2016 US presidential election. The memo began:

A New York Times report on Monday alluding to “overwhelming circumstantial evidence” leading the CIA to believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin “deployed computer hackers with the goal of tipping the election to Donald J. Trump” is, sadly, evidence-free. This is no surprise, because harder evidence of a technical nature points to an inside leak, not hacking – by Russians or anyone else.

The memo was signed by William Binney, Mike Gravel, Larry Johnson, Ray McGovern, Elizabeth Murray (Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Middle East, CIA (ret.)), and Kirk Wiebe (former Senior Analyst, SIGINT Automation Research Center, NSA (ret.))

See also

• National Security Whistleblowers Coalition

References

1. McGovern, Ray. "Bio". Archived from the original on 1 Nov 2016. Retrieved 14 Dec 2016. In January 2003, Ray helped create Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) to expose the way intelligence was being falsified to "justify" war on Iraq.
2. "VIPS Memos". Consortiumnews. Archived from the original on 14 Dec 2016. Retrieved 14 Dec 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
3. "Powell's UN Speech and the Case for War". Consortiumnews. Archived from the original on 4 Dec 2016. Retrieved 14 Dec 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
4. "Save Our Spooks". The New York Times. 30 May 2003.
5. Michael W. Robbins, The Skeptical Spy, Mother Jones, March 10, 2004.
6. "Time to End the Dodginess". CounterPunch. July 14, 2003. Archived from the original on 4 Aug 2010. Retrieved 14 Dec 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
7. "Why We Resigned from VIPS". CounterPunch. 15 Jul 2003. Archived from the original on 2 May 2011. Retrieved 14 Dec 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
8. "War With Iran". Consortiumnews. Archived from the original on 6 Dec 2016. Retrieved 14 Dec 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
9. "US Intel Vets Dispute Russia Hacking Claims". Consortiumnews. Archived from the original on 14 Dec 2016. Retrieved 14 Dec 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

• "Ex-CIA Accuse Bush of Manipulating Iraq Evidence" FOX News (AP story), 2003-03-17.
• "Failures of the Sept. 11 Commission" Washington Post, Monday, July 26, 2004; Page A11

• Political advocacy groups in the United States
• American intelligence analysts
• Organizations established in 2003
• Anti–Iraq War groups