Veteran diplomat Chas W. Freeman Jr. has removed himself from consideration to head the National Intelligence Council as a result of criticism of his remarks about Israel and his entanglements with Saudi Arabia and China.
His withdrawal came hours after National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair had defended his qualifications to a Senate intelligence panel. Lawmakers have no power to reject him, but all seven Republicans on the panel had sent a letter to Blair expressing concerns about Freeman’s experience and objectivity.
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“He has no intelligence experience,” said committee member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, released a statement late Tuesday that also seemed to take credit for getting the White House to “reject” Freeman’s appointment.
“Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position,” Schumer said. “His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration. I repeatedly urged the White House to reject him, and I am glad they did the right thing.”
The chairman of the National Intelligence Council is responsible for producing the National Intelligence Estimate – the classified document given to the president and senior intelligence officials that analyzes threats to U.S. security.
Freeman, 66, would have brought his experience as a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, a former assistant defense secretary and a China expert who served as principal translator for the late Richard Nixon on his groundbreaking 1972 trip.
Opposition to his appointment centered on his outspoken criticisms of Israel’s handling of the Palestinian conflict and his harsh analysis of the Bush administration’s foreign policy. He had also enraged human rights advocates with his defense of the Chinese government’s crackdown on dissidents in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Freeman has headed the Middle East Policy Council, which critics have called “a mouthpiece for Saudi Arabia” because of its funding from the Saudi royal family. His role on a board for the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation, which has a $16-billion agreement to develop a gas field in Iran, also raised questions.
The inspector general for the national intelligence director agreed last week to examine Freeman’s foreign ties. At the time, Blair said the inquiry would put questions about him to rest.
Blair’s office said he had not sought White House approval for the appointment, which did not require Senate approval.
Freeman put out his own statement last night, saying he made the decision to withdraw after concluding “the barrage of libelous distortions of my record would not cease upon my entry into office.”
He also took a swipe at the Israel lobby which he blamed for the campaign against him.
“The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired, still less to factor in American understanding of trends and events in the Middle East,” he said. “The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth.”
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