American Intelligence

"The irony of course, is that, if anything, President Bush badly failed at depoliticizing a CIA that was often hostile to his agenda. Witness the repeated leaks of classified information that undercut his policies. ... The news Web site Politico.com yesterday reported that it could confirm rumors that a former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Charles 'Chas' Freeman Jr., has been appointed chairman. ... The MEPC purports to be a nonpartisan, public-affairs group that 'strives to ensure that a full range of US interests and views are considered by policy makers' dealing with the Middle East. In fact, its original name until 1991 was the American-Arab Affairs Council, and it is an influential Washington mouthpiece for Saudi Arabia. ... Asked in the same interview about his organization's current mission, Mr. Freeman responded, in a revealing non sequitur, that he was 'delighted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has, after a long delay begun to make serious public relations efforts.' Among MEPC's recent activities in the public relations realm, it has published an 'unabridged' version of 'The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy' by professors John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt. ... Unsurprisingly, Mr. Freeman has views about Middle East policy that differ sharply from those held by supporters of the state of Israel. More surprisingly, they also differ rather sharply from the views--or at least the views stated during the campaign--of the president who has invited him to serve. ... The primary reason America confronts a terrorism problem today, he continued, is 'the brutal opperssion of the Palestinians by an Israeli occupation that is about to mark its fortieth anniversary and shows no sign of ending.' ... He has pronounced on a wide variety of other subjects, including China, where he has attempted to explain away the scale and scope of the starkly intensive buildup of the People's Liberation Army. ... Freeman has been a participant in ChinaSec, a confidential Internet discussion group of China specialists", Gabriel Schoenfeld at the WSJ, 25 February 2009.

"So, if you have a spymaster who unwittingly relies on double agents feeding the CIA enemy disinformation rather that accurate intelligence, conclusions drawn from such data will be erroneous, possibly dangerously so. Similarly, if the chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC)--the organization responsible for producing the National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) that are supposed to reflect the best insights of the intelligence community as a whole and that usually guide US government security decision-making--has a well-estiblished and anti-American policy agenda, he will likely try to discount or exclude insights from NIEs that conflict with his biases. Such a politicization of intelligence would have far-reaching implications for American interests and security. ... In December [2007], the [NIC]--then under the leadership of another product of the State Department, Thomas Fingar--produced an NIE that declared 'with high confidence' that the Iranian mullahs had halted their nuclear weapons program in 2003. An unclassified summary of that estimate was made public with much fanfare, and with a transparent political purpose: To deny President Bush grounds for attacking Iran so as to prevent the regime there from getting the bomb. ... Worse, yet, through his organization, the [MEPC], [Freeman] has been a paid shill for Saudi Arabia]. ... The evidence suggests that he is what he appears to be: an aggressive partisan in the service of many of America's most dangerous actual or potential enemies", Frank Gaffney (FG), 3 March 2009 at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/03/garbage-in-garbage-out/.

"I was just leafing through my new hijab catalogue, trying to decide which color to order for wearing under The New Order when the good news arrived: Charles Freeman is not going to be the head of O'Bama's [NIC]", Dymphna at Gates of Vienna, 10 March 2009, link: http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2009/03/charles-freeman-fails-to-show-up-at.html.

There are no "former" ambassadors to Saudi Arabia (SA) or "former" Goldman Sachs partners. To become an ambassador to SA, the Saudis vet you to be SA's ambassador to the US. The SA slot is another revolving door to big consulting fees. As for Islamic terrorism, its been part of Islam since 622 AD. Ask about the 70-80 million Hindus killed since 712 AD. Freeman's appointment is a disgrace. He's a Saudi stooge. Kill the Jews and solve all the world's problems. That's the ticket.

Indeed, FG's got it.

Great news, we win one. I presume Freeman's Saudi handlers told him not to attend the Senate Committee hearing for fear his "connections" might be exposed. Dymphna's post cites the WSJ and Washington Times articles I cited above.