VIPS to Biden on Ukraine: “When You Find Yourself in a Hole, Stop Digging”

The Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) sent President Joe Biden an “Alert Memorandum” on Jan. 25, warning him once again, that the intelligence on Ukraine he has been receiving since the beginning of the conflict with Russia has been dangerously wrong. The VIPS is a group of former officers of the U.S. intelligence community, many of them whistle-blowers, who denounce the “permanent war” policy adopted by successive U.S. governments.

Their most recent memo refers to a statement made by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Jan. 23, asking U.S. allies to “dig deep” to provide Ukraine with more arms. “Ukraine has lost the war, and this will become very clear in the weeks ahead”, they write. “Given the lack of any prospect for negotiations, nothing short of nuclear weapons could stop the measured but inexorable advance of Russian forces.” From the advice they gave President Biden one year ago, they repeat: “Simply stated, it is not possible to ‘win the war against Russia’ AND avoid WWIII. That our Defense Secretary Austin may think this possible is downright scary. In any case, the Kremlin has to assume he thinks so. Thus, it is a very dangerous delusion.”

Their advice to the President: “When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” Although addressed more specifically to Biden, their advice certainly applies to all NATO member countries, emphatically including in Europe.

Meanwhile, now that Ukraine has been severely damaged by the war and the loss of population, the vulture funds are looking forward to making a kill by organizing the reconstruction of the country. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, the vice chairman of BlackRock, Philipp Hildebrand, announced the launching, in five to six months, of a reconstruction bank for Ukraine, which the Ukrainian government tasked his vulture fund, together with JP Morgan Chase, with setting up.