Freeman Withdraws as Head of National Intelligence Council

Under Pressure from Israel-Firsters Who Control US Government  

By Jeff Bliss

March 11, 2009, (Bloomberg) --

Charles Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia under attack for his Middle Eastern and Chinese ties, withdrew from consideration as chairman of the National Intelligence Council because of what he called “distortions” and “falsehoods” about his record.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, who named Freeman to the post, yesterday accepted the decision “with regret,” according to a statement from his office.

Freeman was in the final stages of getting security clearance to head the council, which helps put together National Intelligence Estimates about potential threats around the world and foreign policy issues for the president and head of intelligence services.

His withdrawal was the culmination of weeks of criticism from Republican and Democratic lawmakers and pro- Israel lobbyists who questioned Freeman’s objectivity on issues in the Middle East. Some lawmakers also questioned his views on China.

In a letter to supporters yesterday, Freeman said he withdrew because of a concerted effort by pro-Israel lobbyists to spread “libelous distortions” about his experience. “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,” Freeman wrote.

Lawmakers who opposed his appointment were unapologetic.

“His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration,” Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a statement after the withdrawal was announced.

Republicans said they were concerned that Freeman was president of the Middle East Policy Council, a Washington- based group they said was funded by Saudi Arabia. Freeman also drew fire from critics for having been a member of the International Advisory Board of Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil explorer.

Investigation

Last week, Edward Maguire, the inspector general for Blair’s office, agreed to look into questions about Freeman’s financial ties to Saudi Arabia at the request of 10 House lawmakers, including Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio.

“Given his close ties to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we request a comprehensive review,” they wrote on March 3.

In his letter, Freeman said he had no conflicts of interest. “I have never sought to be paid or accepted payment from any foreign government, including Saudi Arabia or China, for any service, nor have I ever spoken on behalf of a foreign government, its interests, or its policies,” he said.

Representative Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said the choice of Freeman was another sign that the vetting process had broken down in President Barack Obama’s administration.

“It calls into question the essential judgments being made,” he said in a statement.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes said it was unfortunate Freeman bowed out.

“I regret that the controversy surrounding his selection as chairman of the NIC played out so publicly, especially since the inspector general of the DNI was still examining the claims against Ambassador Freeman,” Reyes, a California Democrat, said in a statement.

Freeman was a foreign-service professional who worked with 100 governments in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. He would have headed a council whose reports have generated controversy.

In December 2007, U.S. intelligence released the findings of a National Intelligence Estimate that found Iran had ended its nuclear weapons program. Yet the report found the country was continuing to enrich uranium, a central step to producing a nuclear bomb.

Iranian officials have said they’re developing nuclear materials to supply energy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington jbliss@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 11, 2009 00:01 EDT

U.S. intelligence candidate pulls out after objections

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:12pm EDT  

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's candidate for a top U.S. intelligence post withdrew on Tuesday amid congressional objections over his past criticism of Israel and ties to China and Saudi Arabia.

The withdrawal of Charles Freeman, named to head the National Intelligence Council which produces formal U.S. intelligence assessments of security issues, is the latest personnel embarrassment for President Barack Obama as he struggles to staff his administration.

"Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position. His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration," New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said in a statement.

Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said: "This is yet another breakdown in the Obama administration vetting process -- one more in a long series of missteps."

Freeman is a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who has also served as an assistant secretary of defense and a senior diplomat in China.

National Intelligence Director Admiral Dennis Blair, who chose Freeman for the council position, had defended him in Congress earlier on Tuesday as a man of "strong views, of an inventive mind and the analytical point of view." Blair said he preferred that to "precooked pablum judgments."

But Freeman's criticisms of Israel and a comment seen as condoning China's Tiananmen Square crackdown had stirred controversy. He was quoted as saying in 2007, "The brutal oppression of the Palestinians by Israeli occupation shows no sign of ending," and "American identification with Israel has become total."

Blair said the remarks were taken out of context. After Freeman's withdrawal, Blair's office said he accepted his decision "with regret." But officials declined to discuss reasons for the withdrawal.

In a note to friends and supporters, Freeman said he had withdrawn from consideration after concluding that "the barrage of libelous distortions" of his record would not end when he took office.

"I do not believe the National Intelligence Council could function effectively while its chair was under constant attack by unscrupulous people with a passionate attachment to the views of a political faction in a foreign country," Freeman wrote.

Lawmakers also questioned Freeman's professional ties. Freeman served on the international advisory board of the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. when it made its 2005 bid for U.S. oil firm Unocal that was thwarted by U.S. congressional protest.

'FORCES LINED UP AGAINST HIM'

He was also president of the Middle East Policy Council, a Washington think tank that received funding from Saudi Arabia.

Even as Blair defended Freeman on Tuesday, independent Senator Joseph Lieberman, a former Democrat, warned Blair at a Senate hearing that the controversy would not go away.

Lieberman's opposition may have been the last straw for Freeman, said a source familiar with Obama administration security policy. "There were a lot of forces lined up against him," the source said. 

Freeman's comments on Israel were a key issue, but the business ties also raised serious conflict-of-interest concerns in Congress for an official whose influential estimates cover the globe's hot spots, the source said.

Freeman's problems were magnified by Obama's earlier difficulties with political appointees, he said.

The council that Freeman had been picked to head prepares the National Intelligence Estimates that are heavily relied on by Congress and administration policy makers.

Its work has come under intense scrutiny since it produced a controversial, and inaccurate, assessment in 2002 that Iraq was continuing its weapons of mass destruction programs. Former President George W. Bush's main justification for the U.S.-led war he launched in 2003 was the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

A 2007 estimate that Iran had suspended its work on nuclear weapon design also met criticism, this time from conservatives who said it undermined a hardline U.S. policy toward Tehran.

The National Intelligence Council position does not require Senate confirmation.

(Reporting by Randall Mikkelsen, Editing by Cynthia Osterman)