Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Originally formed in 2003 by five retired senior U.S. intelligence officers, opposing, on professional grounds, the Iraq War; it responded with a same-day analysis of the 5 February 2002 UN speech by Colin Powell. The group now it has over 70 members.
Obama Administration
Its first set of recommendations for the Obama Administration, concerning torture, was signed by 11 members. [1]
| title = Memo to President Obama on Torture | date = 1 May 2009 | author = Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity}}</ref>
Besides torture, it expressed concern with violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and it agreed with the replacement of Michael Hayden. It states "we believe you were badly misguided in giving a prominent White House post to former CIA director George Tenet’s protégé John Brennan, who has publicly defended “extraordinary rendition” in full knowledge that its purpose was torture. Brennan also had complicit knowledge of the lengths to which Tenet conspired with the Department of Justice to distort history and the law in drafting opinions that attempted to “justify” torture.
SUBJECT: Torture
Gene Betit, US Army, DIA, Arlington, VA Ray Close, National Clandestine Service (CIA), Princeton, NJ Phil Giraldi, National Clandestine Service (CIA), Purcellville, VA Larry Johnson, CIA & Department of State, Bethesda, MD Pat Lang, US Army (Special Forces), DIA, Alexandria, VA David MacMichael, National Intelligence Council, Linden, VA Tom Maertens, Department of State, Mankato, MN Ray McGovern, US Army, CIA, Arlington, VA Sam Provance, US Army (Abu Ghraib), Greenville, SC Coleen Rowley, FBI, Apple Valley, MN Greg Thielmann, Department of State & Senate Intel. Committee staff, Arlington, VA Ann Wright, US Army, Department of State, Honolulu, HI