From Jewish Peace News:
Ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. has withdrawn his acceptance of chairmanship of the National Intelligence Council. Freeman had signaled clearly that he would want to distinguish between the US’s foreign policy interests and those of Israel, and that this would involve criticizing some of Israel’s actions. In 2007 he criticized US policy, saying: “We abandoned the role of Middle East peacemaker to back Israel’s efforts to pacify its captive and increasingly ghettoised Arab populations.”
It is probable that Freeman was in fact forced to withdraw; his appointment was immediately and aggressively opposed by AIPAC, which initiated a viciously abusive smear campaign against him. Needless to say, this outcome does not bode well for the Obama administration’s willingness to defend positions unfriendly to AIPAC. As Freeman says in the statement below: “I regret that my willingness to serve the new administration has ended by casting doubt on its ability to consider, let alone decide what policies might best serve the interests of the United States rather than those of a Lobby intent on enforcing the will and interests of a foreign government.”
For Glenn Greenwald’s excellent blog / conversation / analysis on this issue, see: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/10/freeman/print.html
