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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMEMORANDUM FOR: The President - FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
SUBJECT: Is Syria a Trap?
Precedence: IMMEDIATE
We regret to inform you that some of our former co-workers are telling us, categorically, that contrary to the claims of your administration, the most reliable intelligence shows that Bashar al-Assad was NOT responsible for the chemical incident that killed and injured Syrian civilians on August 21, and that British intelligence officials also know this. In writing this brief report, we choose to assume that you have not been fully informed because your advisers decided to afford you the opportunity for what is commonly known as plausible denial.
We have been down this road before with President George W. Bush, to whom we addressed our first VIPS memorandumimmediately after Colin Powells Feb. 5, 2003 U.N. speech, in which he peddled fraudulent intelligence to support attacking Iraq. Then, also, we chose to give President Bush the benefit of the doubt, thinking he was being misled or, at the least, very poorly advised.
The fraudulent nature of Powells speech was a no-brainer. And so, that very afternoon we strongly urged your predecessor to widen the discussion beyond the circle of those advisers clearly bent on a war for which we see no compelling reason and from which we believe the unintended consequences are likely to be catastrophic. We offer you the same advice today.
Our sources confirm that a chemical incident of some sort did cause fatalities and injuries on August 21 in a suburb of Damascus. They insist, however, that the incident was not the result of an attack by the Syrian Army using military-grade chemical weapons from its arsenal. That is the most salient fact, according to CIA officers working on the Syria issue. They tell us that CIA Director John Brennan is perpetrating a pre-Iraq-War-type fraud on members of Congress, the media, the public and perhaps even you.
snip
For the Steering Group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Thomas Drake, Senior Executive, NSA (former)
Philip Giraldi, CIA, Operations Officer (ret.)
Matthew Hoh, former Capt., USMC, Iraq & Foreign Service Officer, Afghanistan
Larry Johnson, CIA & State Department (ret.)
W. Patrick Lang, Senior Executive and Defense Intelligence Officer, DIA (ret.)
David MacMichael, National Intelligence Council (ret.)
Ray McGovern, former US Army infantry/intelligence officer & CIA analyst (ret.)
Elizabeth Murray, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Middle East (ret.)
Todd Pierce, US Army Judge Advocate General (ret.)
Sam Provance, former Sgt., US Army, Iraq
Coleen Rowley, Division Council & Special Agent, FBI (ret.)
Ann Wright, Col., US Army (ret); Foreign Service Officer (ret.)
http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-lying-brennan-obama-or-both
Precedence: IMMEDIATE
We regret to inform you that some of our former co-workers are telling us, categorically, that contrary to the claims of your administration, the most reliable intelligence shows that Bashar al-Assad was NOT responsible for the chemical incident that killed and injured Syrian civilians on August 21, and that British intelligence officials also know this. In writing this brief report, we choose to assume that you have not been fully informed because your advisers decided to afford you the opportunity for what is commonly known as plausible denial.
We have been down this road before with President George W. Bush, to whom we addressed our first VIPS memorandumimmediately after Colin Powells Feb. 5, 2003 U.N. speech, in which he peddled fraudulent intelligence to support attacking Iraq. Then, also, we chose to give President Bush the benefit of the doubt, thinking he was being misled or, at the least, very poorly advised.
The fraudulent nature of Powells speech was a no-brainer. And so, that very afternoon we strongly urged your predecessor to widen the discussion beyond the circle of those advisers clearly bent on a war for which we see no compelling reason and from which we believe the unintended consequences are likely to be catastrophic. We offer you the same advice today.
Our sources confirm that a chemical incident of some sort did cause fatalities and injuries on August 21 in a suburb of Damascus. They insist, however, that the incident was not the result of an attack by the Syrian Army using military-grade chemical weapons from its arsenal. That is the most salient fact, according to CIA officers working on the Syria issue. They tell us that CIA Director John Brennan is perpetrating a pre-Iraq-War-type fraud on members of Congress, the media, the public and perhaps even you.
snip
For the Steering Group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Thomas Drake, Senior Executive, NSA (former)
Philip Giraldi, CIA, Operations Officer (ret.)
Matthew Hoh, former Capt., USMC, Iraq & Foreign Service Officer, Afghanistan
Larry Johnson, CIA & State Department (ret.)
W. Patrick Lang, Senior Executive and Defense Intelligence Officer, DIA (ret.)
David MacMichael, National Intelligence Council (ret.)
Ray McGovern, former US Army infantry/intelligence officer & CIA analyst (ret.)
Elizabeth Murray, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Middle East (ret.)
Todd Pierce, US Army Judge Advocate General (ret.)
Sam Provance, former Sgt., US Army, Iraq
Coleen Rowley, Division Council & Special Agent, FBI (ret.)
Ann Wright, Col., US Army (ret); Foreign Service Officer (ret.)
http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-lying-brennan-obama-or-both
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MEMORANDUM FOR: The President - FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) (Original Post)
JohnyCanuck
Sep 2013
OP
Well they do have a track record of being correct in their analyses of these types of situation
JohnyCanuck
Sep 2013
#3
Catherina
(35,568 posts)1. Dupe but it can't be posted enough. Rec'd n/t
brooklynite
(94,360 posts)2. Well, if they have a catchy acronym, they must be correct...
I note that they haven't shared their sources either. I trust that those distrustful of the Administration's evidence will be equally skeptical.
JohnyCanuck
(9,922 posts)3. Well they do have a track record of being correct in their analyses of these types of situation
The fraudulent nature of Powells speech was a no-brainer. And so, that very afternoon we strongly urged your predecessor to widen the discussion beyond
the circle of those advisers clearly bent on a war for which we see no compelling reason and from which we believe the unintended consequences are likely to be catastrophic. We offer you the same advice today.
Whereas past presidents have a track record of either telling outright lies or following bad advice when it comes to reasons for and consequences of military action by the US military.
Whereas past presidents have a track record of either telling outright lies or following bad advice when it comes to reasons for and consequences of military action by the US military.