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Timidity Derails Obama Intel Choice
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Ray McGovern
Infowars
March 12, 2009
On Tuesday morning, Director of National Intelligence, Admiral Dennis Blair, employed the indicative mood in describing the high value that Chas Freeman, his appointee to head the National Intelligence Council (NIC), will bring to the job – "his long experience and inventive mind," for example.
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By five o’clock that afternoon, Freeman announced that he had asked that his selection "not proceed."
Not one to mince words, Freeman, spelled out the strange set of affairs surrounding the flip-flop and the implications of what had just happened.
Borrowing from George Washington’s Farewell Address the pointed warning against developing a "passionate attachment" to the strategic goals of another nation, Freeman made it clear that he was withdrawing his "previous acceptance" of Blair’s invitation to chair the NIC because of the character assassination of him orchestrated by the Israel Lobby.
The implications? Freeman was clear:
"The outrageous agitation … will be seen by many to raise serious questions about whether the Obama administration will be able to make its own decisions about the Middle East and related issues. [It casts] doubt on its ability to consider, let alone decide what policies might best serve the United States rather than those of a Lobby intent on enforcing the will and interests of a foreign government…
"The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views … and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those it [the Lobby] favors."
Foreign policy analyst Chris Nelson described the imbroglio as a reflection of the "deadly power game on what level of support for controversial Israeli government policies is a ‘requirement’ for U.S. public office."
Before the flip-flop on Freeman was announced, Nelson warned, "If Obama surrenders to the critics and orders Blair to rescind the Freeman appointment, it is difficult to see how he can properly exercise leverage, when needed, in his conduct of policy in the Middle East. That, literally, is how the experts see the stakes in the fight now under way" – the fight that is now over.
Congressional Boasting
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, led Lobby boasting just minutes after the Freeman debacle was announced. Schumer was clear: "His [Freeman's] statements against Israel were way over the top. … I repeatedly urged the White House to reject him, and I am glad they did the right thing."
And, as Glen Greenwald has noted, "Lynch mob leader Jonathan Chait [of The New Republic and author of an influential op-ed for the Washington Post] who spent the last week denying that Israel was the driving force behind the attacks on Freeman," now concedes the obvious.
Greenwald quotes Chait: "Of course I recognize that the Israel Lobby is powerful, and was a key element in the pushback against Freeman."
Neoconservative Daniel Pipes offered an anatomy of the crime, blog-bragging about how it was conducted:
"What you may not know is that Steven J. Rosen of the Middle East forum was the person who first brought attention [on Feb. 19] to the problematic nature of Freeman’s appointment. … Within hours, the word was out and three weeks later Freeman has conceded defeat. Only someone with Steve’s stature and credibility could have made this happen."
The same Steve Rosen who is currently on trial for violations of the Espionage Act involving the transmission of classified information intended for Israel? One and the same! This has to be the purest brand of gall that ever came down the Pipes.
This "morning after," I find myself wondering when White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel – another staunch supporter of the Lobby who reportedly was Schumer’s go-to guy on the get-Freeman campaign – saw fit to let Admiral Blair in on the little secret that no way could he have Freeman. And why Blair tucked tail.
In a March 8 letter to Admiral Blair, we Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) endorsed his appointment of Freeman and decried the campaign to derail it.
We seven signatories (with cumulative experience of 130 years) noted that the Freeman case was the first time we witnessed such a well-coordinated campaign to reverse the appointment of an official to an intelligence job not requiring Senate confirmation.
In other words the influence of the Israel Lobby is seeping ever deeper into the ranks of the intelligence community.
Military Mind-Set
It seems altogether possible that Admiral Blair, accustomed to military command authority, assumed he had the right to appoint his senior staff and did not think to check the naming of Freeman out with politicians sensitive to such pressures.
And this points up a host of other problems. One is that of having military officers, active or retired, running national intelligence. It appears to be beyond their ken to consider resigning on principle.
I imagine it never occurred to Blair that he should have quit on the spot as soon as he learned that Freeman was being jettisoned. Or at least Blair might have threatened to quit if the Obama administration let itself be bullied in this way.
Blair is no neophyte, but he clearly underestimated the power of the Lobby vis-à-vis his own. The White House seems to have told Blair to treat the Freeman appointment as though in the subjunctive mood – long enough to "run it up the flagpole and see who salutes," as the saying goes.
Then, when the Lobby made sure there were no salutes, but rather the strongest and most scurrilous spitting, Freeman was hauled on down.
The Freeman flip-flop is merely the latest sign that Obama is afraid to take on the Lobby – and the world is watching. Most will interpret the new President’s acquiescence in this outcome as a sign of weakness – of his not being his own man.
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
The encounter with Putin brings to mind another young President’s encounter with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna in June 1961. Khrushchev had studied the fiasco of the Bay of Pigs in April 1961; he would have understood if Kennedy had left Castro alone or destroyed him.
When Kennedy was rash enough to approve a strike on Cuba but not bold enough to finish the job, in Khrushchev’s view, the latter decided he was dealing with an inexperienced young leader who could be intimidated and blackmailed – one who would shrink from hard decisions.
Kennedy later said of his encounter with Khrushchev in Vienna, "He beat the hell out of me." The meeting led Khrushchev to believe that Kennedy might well back down if the USSR put missiles in Cuba.
As for Israel, the Russians were better able to understand Washington’s "passionate attachment" to Israel in strategic terms, as the Cold War played out in the Middle East and Washington had a perceived need to have Israel as a permanent "battleship" there.
Now the Russians see the power of the Israel Lobby for what it is – who can miss it? The Obama administration is seen as caving under political pressure.
Although the Russians continue to be amazed at the Lobby’s strong influence over U.S. policy, the Russians are happy as clams to sit back and watch as the identification of the U.S. with Israeli policy inflicts incalculable damage to U.S. interests throughout the region and beyond.
Though a sportsman, Putin is best at chess. He is likely to shy away from playing basketball with our new President. Obama will have to beat Putin at his own game – and Obama now has shown himself easy to push around.
Israeli Adventurism
With Freeman’s withdrawal, there is surely much gloating among the politically aware in Israel. However, gloating is one thing; dangerous miscalculation is another.
That danger is particularly high as Benjamin Netanyahu takes over as Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu and his close "neoconservative" friends in the U.S. have made no bones about their preference for a Bush/Cheney-style preventive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
As Gareth Porter and I write in the Miami Herald, the specter of such a strike takes on more reality with Netanyahu as prime minister. He, too, is taking the measure of our young President and may draw very dangerous conclusions from Obama’s subservience to the Lobby.
The effect of the Freeman affair on the intelligence community is easy to predict.
Those who were looking forward to fearless integrity will be deeply disappointed. They may seek honest work elsewhere, if they perceive that Blair is only the titular head of intelligence and that pro-Lobby political operatives are calling the shots.
On the other hand, those intelligence managers and analysts who were pleased as punch to be sent over to brief the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), created by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), will be delighted with the news on Freeman.
This briefing practice, which was encouraged by the Bush/Cheney administration, was highly irregular for a non-partisan intelligence community to be engaged in. It can be expected to flourish now, with the abject object lesson of Freeman’s demise.
On Oct. 5, 2007, I published an article about Israel’s deliberate attempt on June 8, 1967, to sink the USS Liberty in international waters off the Sinai, killing 34 of the Liberty crew and wounding over 170 in the process.
The lead was:
"So Who’s Afraid of the Israel Lobby? Virtually everyone: Republican, Democrat – Conservative, Liberal. The fear factor is non-partisan, you might say, and palpable. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee brags that it is the most influential foreign policy lobbying organization on Capitol Hill, and has demonstrated that time and again, and not only on Capitol Hill."
The point? In June 1967, the Israelis learned that they could get away, literally, with murder and still not endanger their influence in Washington.
Events of the past weeks demonstrate that they and their Lobby are equally good at character assassination. It is embarrassingly shameful to watch President Obama acquiesce in all this.
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March 12th, 2009 at 11:47 am
the fact that Freeman turned his appointment down under pressure from the Israeli Lobby proves how weak the Obama administration is….. and how Israel runs our gov’t…along with the British………….nothing is going to get better for Americans until Obama really stands firm against this part of the NWO….. we need another Lincoln….and Obama is backing down under pressure from and evil oligarachial mentality….
March 12th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Our politicians, soldiers and clergy are more loyal to ISRAEL than to AMERICA……….. and Jesus called them the synagogue of SATAN and he was so correct !
March 12th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Yeah, I can see why all you nazis around here are so depressed. After all Hitler and you guys have gone through at the hands of the rest of the freedom loving world. We fought a war and relegated your sorry ass Third Reich to the ashheaps of history after 12 years, and the State of Israel has been around for over 60, and still counting. Really pisses you off, doesn’t it?
Theywontchipme Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
HITLER AND HIS TOP PEOPLE WERE jEWS. WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT??? THIS IS NOT A “NEO-NAZI” SITE
Theywontchipme Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
AND YOU NEED A COrrupt U.N. to form and protect your racist state. What does that tell you??
Judgement Day Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Thanks, Goebbels, for proving my point.
TheGhost Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
judgement day youre a fucking idiot! israel was founded on war and genocide, it is an illegal state!! the nazis were financially backed by the same people who support israel!! WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU YOU FUCKING IDIOT!?!?!
Judgement Day Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Tells me what I’ve been saying all along: that you and your fellow nazi boys are full of shit, and if anybody around here is a racist, genocidal maniac, it’s you, nazi loser.
JJM Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
So the Nazis and Israelis being controlled by the same people makes us Nazis for NOT liking Israel’s govt? LOL i realize you get paid to put out bullshit but atleast make it make sense!
Judgement Day Reply:
March 13th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Makes infinitely more sense than that bullshit about nazis and Israelis being controlled by the same people. Sounds like a confession to me, nazi boy.
March 12th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
It continues to be distrubing seeing the control Zionists have on the USA. It’s difficult to dispute words of Ariel Sharon who said in 2001, “We the Jewish people control America”. Various Jewish groups do, in fact, control the United States. Our tax dollars contribute to giving $23,000 per capita to every man woman and child in the church state of Israel and about $5.00 per person for people in Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America. Israel has A GDP that rivals Spain, and promoted the invasion of Iraq that slaughtered over one million innocent people. Israel has a military complete with nuclear weapons all compliments of the USA. The Zionists control the USA and over 80% of congress is afraid to vote against anything the Zionists propose. Anything said about Jews is considered “anti-semitic” when, in fact, only about 1% of Jews are “semitic”. In some countries you can be thrown in jail for saying anything about the Jews and in the United States it is considered evil to say anything about them whether true or not but you can say anything you want about a Catholic or other religion. So, as long as the population of sheep in the United States allow Israel to control what in the past was their country the sheep deserve to be ruled by Israel. The USA belongs to Israel and not to the people in Wyoming, Colorado, or California so get over it!!!
March 12th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
It’s not the Jews, it’s a shadowy satanic elite. Riiiiiiiight!
March 12th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
AIPAC = fear smear blacklist & extortion blackmail bribery division.
March 12th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Judgment Day……….George Soros admitted to helping his father (jewish) send their own people to the incinerators in Nazi Germany. Just like the blacks sold their own kind into slavery…those blacks made lots of money from the East India Trading Company……both groups…jewish nation and those selling blacks into slavery were backed by the British……The British are NOT our friends…….they are the enemy of all freedom loving people…….they haven’t changed since our revolution…………….when are Americans and the rest of the world going to wake up………the Europeans have the same election problem that Americans have…..they too have dumb and dumber running against each other…….so each country loses…..loses their sovereighty, their culture their industries and eventually their lives because they are losing their jobs…..and can’t feed their families…….. We better wake up and America has to lead…..once again. I think Obama is trying but if he really tries to do what is right he is shot down. The Neo cons are ready to tell the lies……………and sadly Rush leads the pack…..
Judgement Day Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Well, if George Soros publicly confessed to a war crime, by all means arrest him. But I have a feeling you’re lying about that, so you won’t.
Devils Advocate Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Shouldn’t you be at the deli?
TheGhost Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
obama is part of the problem idiot
March 12th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Judgement…………….I already educated you…………….now find out the truth yourself….
Judgement Day Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Actually, all you’ve done is made baseless accusations without any evidence. Do you have a source? Can you link to it?
Just like I thought….no, you can’t.
March 12th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7X24_vOWwU
March 12th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
At least he paid his taxes!
March 12th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Steve Kroft interview of Soros in 98
Judgement Day Reply:
March 12th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
You mean “this” interview:
“I was only a spectator, the property was being taken away. So the–I had no role in taking away that property.”
Your mentor, Joeseph Goebbels, would be proud of you, jd.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
How does this story we call life end? Will the New World Order Succeed? Reach deep for the answers and when you finally realize with all your heart that the power is With The People, your gonna want to unite with others that feel the way you do. When that day comes, just remember:
http://WWW.WARNTHEPEOPLE.ORG
March 12th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
you know why we have an idiotic congress?………. the idiots aren’t nearly as bad as the people who defend them like you do…………Soros’s dad took property that didn’t belong to him………..the jews during Esther’s time killed the people who were going to kill them but they didn’t plunder….they didn’t touch property that didn’t belong to them. judgement……..you are an idiot worse than Soros
March 12th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
According to hard core right-$winging KKKristian preachers in corp-rat fascist Amerika (and also the so called “liberal media” propagandists on toxic talk $hit radio), the Amerikan people must continue to blind-lie $upport the ethno/racist policies of the glorious [sic] Zionist theocrazy of Israel at all costs! Israel first! Amerika $econd! It is god’s will that AIPAC (the Zionist foreign lobbyist agency in $ewertown) rule Amerika for the $ake of Israel (and JEEEEEEEEEEEASS!).
Indeed! This is why Mr. Obama was compelled to ‘appoint’ Rahm Israel Emanual as White House Chief of $taff. Chas Freeman’s biggest sin is the fact that he actually dared speak some very ugly truths about Zionism… and who dictates foreign policy for the United $tates: Israel!
Now repeat after me… ewe dumb ass Amerikans! Israel first! Amerika $econd! And don’t ewe folks dare question this new Amerikan motto.
Judgement Day Reply:
March 15th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Always knew you guys were a bunch of nazi boys.
http://www.latimes.com/news/op.....3783.story
March 12th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Chas Freeman is a traitor! He helped China BEFORE the U.S. Everyone here should be concerned that he was even considered! Go see this article at WND…
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?f.....geId=90180
Obama intel pick works for Chinese government
Company’s deals were seen as attempt to expand communist nation’s influence
President Obama’s nominee for a top intelligence post sits on the board of a major oil company owned by the Chinese government that is widely seen as conducting business deals meant to expand China’s influence worldwide, WND has learned.
Charles “Chas” Freeman, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War, is slated to head the U.S. National Intelligence Council. The NIC is a crucial component of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, serving as the center for midterm and long-term strategic thinking within the American intelligence community. It provides intelligence briefs for Obama and key U.S. agencies and produces reports that help determine American policy on crucial issues, such as Iran’s nuclear program.
Freeman is on the board of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC, which in 2005 tried to purchase the ninth largest oil firm in the U.S. while he was a member. The merger was halted following bipartisan congressional opposition amid fears the deal would harm American national security interests.
The Chinese oil firm also has been accused of multiple human rights violations.
Freeman has served on the board of CNOOC since 2004. He also founded a pro-China organization, the U.S.-China Policy Foundation, which seeks to promote U.S.-China relations.
Freeman did not return WND requests for comment left with a media representative for his Middle East Policy Council.
CNOOC, the third largest Chinese oil company, focuses on the exploitation, exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas offshore of China. Seventy-five percent of the company’s shares are owned by the government of the People’s Republic of China.
In 2005, CNOOC made a staggering, all-cash $18.5 billion offer to buy the American oil company Unocal, topping an earlier bid by ChevronTexaco. Immediately, lawmakers and many policy experts, including a broad array of Democrats and Republicans in Congress, mounted a major opposition campaign to the bid, urging the Bush administration to have the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. determine how the deal would affect national security.
“This takeover is part of a Chinese strategy to move very aggressively into acquiring natural resource assets all over the world to fuel China’s continued growth, because China is relatively resource-poor,” Alan Tonelson, a research fellow with the U.S. Business and Industry Council, told reporters in 2005. “It’s also part of a Chinese campaign to move, again, very aggressively into the American economy.”
There was concern the deal would give China a major foothold in the U.S. economy and would also boost Chinese influence and political clout worldwide, particularly in Asia, where Unocal maintained major holdings in Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh,
“The acquisition would significantly help China achieve its goal of dominating the entire (Asian) region,” John J. Tkacik Jr. wrote in a 2005 article in Capitalism Magazine.
Rep. Donald Manzullo, R-Ill., similarly warned the acquisition would give China an economic “leg up” in Asia.
Scores of media reports in major news outlets quoted congressmen worrying the CNOOC deal would give the Chinese an energy bargaining chip during U.S. negotiations seeking a tougher line against North Korea’s nuclear program.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:41 am
There are many that believe the power is with The People. Are you one of them?
http://www.warnthepeople.org