Charles Freeman

The ball is in Obama’s court
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - March 27, 2009 - 12:00am

While cruising in South America last month, I happened to pick on board the ship’s minuscule edition of The New York Times and, much to my surprise, it had the news about the ordeal of Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr., who felt duty bound to withdraw his nomination as chairman of the National Intelligence Council in the wake of a brutal and unjustified attack by the pro-Israel lobby.

The Lobby Falters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from London Review of Books
by John Mearsheimer - (Opinion) March 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Many people in Washington were surprised when the Obama administration tapped Charles Freeman to chair the National Intelligence Council, the body that oversees the production of National Intelligence Estimates: Freeman had a distinguished 30-year career as a diplomat and Defense Department official, but he has publicly criticised Israeli policy and America’s special relationship with Israel, saying, for example, in a speech in 2005, that ‘as long as the United States continues unconditionally to provide the subsidies and political protection that make the Israeli occupation and the high-hande

The pro-Israel lobby - 'alive, well, and bipartisan?'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nathan Guttman - (Opinion) March 26, 2009 - 12:00am

The fight is over. Chas Freeman, the outspoken Israel critic appointed to chair the National Intelligence Council, is out. And now, both sides in the explosive firefight that broke out over his appointment are battling to frame the narrative over what it all meant. For some of Freeman's critics, the bottom line is what counts. "This shows the pro-Israel lobby is alive and well, and bipartisan," declared Jonathan Tobin, executive editor of the neoconservative journal Commentary, at a public forum just five days after Freeman's March 10 withdrawal.

The Middle East shouldn’t fret about Charles Freeman’s exit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Michael Young - (Opinion) March 19, 2009 - 12:00am

When the former American ambassador Charles “Chas” Freeman last week decided not to accept his appointment as chairman of the National Intelligence Council, many people, particularly in the Middle East, put this down to the workings of the pro-Israel lobby in Washington. Mr Freeman, in a departing salvo, substantiated that interpretation.

Freeman and the Defamation of the Zionist Lobby
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - March 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Former diplomat Charles Freeman was not shy with regards to openly pointing the finger at the Zionist lobby for being behind the organized smear Campaign against him in order to prevent his appointment as Chairman of the US National Intelligence Council. Now the sniping has continued between the former ambassador and the pro-Israeli groups in newspapers, on websites, and on news channels.

Intelligence Pick Blames 'Israel Lobby' For Withdrawal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Walter Pincus - March 12, 2009 - 12:00am

The withdrawal of a senior intelligence adviser after an online campaign to prevent him from taking office has ignited a debate over whether powerful pro-Israel lobbying interests are exercising outsize influence over who serves in the Obama administration.

The Country's Loss
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by David Broder - March 12, 2009 - 12:00am

The Obama administration has just suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the lobbyists the president vowed to keep in their place, and their friends on Capitol Hill. The country has lost an able public servant in an area where President Obama has few personal credentials of his own -- the handling of national intelligence. Charles Freeman, the man who was slated to be chairman of the National Intelligence Council, the high-level interagency group that prepares evaluations for the president and other senior officials, suddenly withdrew his name Tuesday night.

The Freeman fight: Was it all about Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Eric Fingerhut - March 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Supporters of the Obama administration's aborted appointment for a top intelligence post said the former ambassador was unfairly tarred by pro-Israel pundits and advocates. But lawmakers who led the successful campaign against the selection of Charles “Chas” Freeman said their concerns always had less to do with his criticisms of Israel than his financial ties to Saudi Arabia and a Chinese oil company with business dealings in Iran.

Israel Stance Was Undoing of Nominee for Intelligence Post
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper, Mark Mazzetti - March 11, 2009 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON — When Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence, announced that he would install Charles W. Freeman Jr. in a top intelligence post, the decision surprised some in the White House who worried that the selection could be controversial and an unnecessary distraction, according to administration officials.

Chas Freeman for NIC: Lots at Stake
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation
by Robert Dreyfuss - February 25, 2009 - 1:00am

A thunderous, coordinated assault against one of President Obama's intelligence picks is now underway. It started in a few right-wing blogs, migrated to semi-official mouthpieces like the Jewish Telegraph Agency, and today it reached the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal, in the form of the scurrilous piece by Gabriel Schoenfeld, a resident scholar at some outfit called "the Witherspoon Institute."

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