Iraq Policy Information Project

According to the organization's web site, the Iraq Policy Information Project (IPIP) "exists to spur informed national debate about George Walker Bush administration policy toward Iraq and to broaden US media coverage of the impending Iraq policy crisis. IPIP offers one-stop shopping for journalists and others seeking credible sources on the consequences of a precipitous US-led attack on Iraq.

"Established in September 2002, IPIP functions as a 'war room' media operation, making experts available for rapid response to unfolding events in the Congressional and international debates, and actions by the White House. We are in regular contact with members of the military, diplomatic, foreign policy and intelligence communities and other experts who will be available to journalists. IPIP issues brief background papers raising specific Iraq-policy-related issues. IPIP stands ready to assist like-minded organizations with public relations advice. We offer voices of  dissent from US policy from diverse bipartisan sources.

"Who we are:

"The Iraq Policy Information Project was formed under the sponsorship of the Center for International Policy, in Washington, DC. The Center for International Policy has sponsored 25 years of citizen diplomacy, promoting a US foreign policy based on international cooperation, demilitarization, and respect for human rights. The day-to-day operation of the Project is managed by Fenton Communications, the public interest public relations firm.

"Why IPIP?

"Most of the initial US coverage on the Iraq issue carried the message that the Bush administration was insistent on attacking Iraq and that the only open question was 'not whether, but when.' IPIP is supported by foundations and individual donors who have been alarmed by the sense of inevitability of war conveyed by the dominant media and who believe that foreign policy, like other issues in a democracy, should be the product of informed debate."

Expert Sources at IPIP

 Diplomats 
 * Amb. (ret) James Goodby: Chief US Negotiator for cooperative threat reduction (The Nunn-Lugar Program) under President Bill Clinton; currently a non-resident senior fellow at Brookings Institution. Expertise: nuclear proliferation, danger of Iraqi use of bio/chem., value of multilateral security negotiations.
 * Amb. (ret) Edward Peck: U.S. Chief of Mission to Iraq in the 1980s; Coordinator of Covert Intelligence Programs at the State Department and Deputy Director of the Cabinet Task Force on Terrorism at the White House under President Ronald Reagan. Expertise: risk of increasing terrorism, negative consequences for the Middle East.
 * Amb. (ret) Princeton Lyman: US Amb to Nigeria and South Africa and Asst. Sec of State for International Organizations. Currently Director of the Interdependence Initiative at the Aspen Institute. Areas of expertise: role and views of public on possible war; importance of working with the UN Security Council.
 * Amb. (ret) Charles W. Freeman, Jr.: US Amb. to Saudia Arabia during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 1993-1994. Currently the President of the Middle East Policy Council and chairman of Projects International, Inc., a twenty-year-old firm specializing in taking clients into new markets abroad. Areas of expertise: Middle East politics, will speak to negative consequences of war for the Middle East.

 Weapons of mass destruction Proliferation and Inspection Experts 
 * Joe Cirincione: Director, Non-Proliferation Project, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Expertise: strong advocate of international nonproliferation regime, value of inspections, expert on nuclear proliferation.
 * Christopher Paine: Senior Researcher, Natural Resources Defense Council. Expertise: articulate critic of new Bush preemption policy, expert on nuclear terrorism and nonproliferation.
 * Dr. William Potter: Director of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Expertise: advocate of international nonproliferation regime, inspections.
 * David Albright: President, Institute for Science and International Security; a physicist who cooperated with IAEA Iraq Action Team (1992-97). Expertise: Has proposal for strengthened inspection regime; expert on Iraqi weapons program.
 * Robert Gallucci: Dean, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; Served as Deputy Exe Chairman of UNSCOM (1991-92). Expertise: Iraqi weapons program, inspections regime.

 Foreign Policy Experts/Former Officials 
 * Morton Halperin: Former Defense and State Department official; Director, Washington Office, Open Society Institute. Expertise: terrorism, state building, nuclear weapons policy.
 * John J. Mearsheimer: Professor of Political Science, Univ of Chicago; leading international relations scholar. Expertise: Written extensively on security issues and international politics; known for strong "realist" perspective; co-organized a letter signed by 33 prominent academics that ran in the NYT as an ad on 9/26/03.
 * Ted Galen Carpenter: Cato Institute, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies. Expertise: Libertarian, foremost advocate of U.S. security policy that minimizes costs and risks; recommends "strategic independence" and avoids most alliances and nation-building missions.
 * Joe Sobran: Conservative commentator and columnist. Former Senior editor of National Review. Expertise: Foreign policy, presents the arguments against U.S. military intervention except in self-defense of the U.S. proper and with a declaration of war.
 * Stephen Walt: Professor of Political Science, Harvard; Academic Dean at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Expertise: terrorism, U.S. foreign policy; a leading "realist" international relations scholar. Co-organized a letter signed by 33 prominent academics that ran in the NYT as an ad on 9/26/03.

 Public Opinion 
 * Richard Sobel: Senior Research Associate at the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research; and Senior Research Associate, Harvard Medical School. Expertise: written widely on public opinion and international affairs.
 * Amb. (ret) Princeton Lyman: US Amb to Nigeria and South Africa and Asst. Sec of State for International Organizations. Currently Director of the Interdependence Initiative at the Aspen Institute. Areas of expertise: role and views of public on possible war; importance of working with the UN Security Council.

 Military Experts 
 * Andrew Bracevic, Army Col (ret): Director, Center for International Relations, Boston University.
 * Stephen H. Baker, Rear Adm., U.S. Navy, Ret: served during Operation Desert Storm as chief of staff for operations and plans for the USS Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group. Senior Fellow, Center for Defense Information. Expertise: Logistical and operational difficulties facing invasion and occupation.
 * Matthew McKenzie: Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council. Expertise: casualty and damage rates of invasion scenarios, expert on nuclear terrorism.
 * Anthony H. Cordesman: Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Middle East expert, very hawkish during Gulf War. Expertise: concern about casualties and how a war would progress.
 * Lawrence J. Korb: Asst Sec of Defense, Brookings Institution.

Contact
Iraq Policy Information Project 1320 18th Street NW Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202.822.5200 Email: info@iraqpolicy.com URL: http://www.iraqpolicy.com