Chas Freeman Causes Embarrassment for Obama Administration

National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair has appointed Chas Freeman to be chairman of the National Intelligence Council. The Chas Freeman appointment is causing a huge embarrassment to the Obama administration.

Questions have been raised about Chas Freeman's ties to Saudi Arabia, where he was once the American ambassador, and China, where he was a senior envoy. In addition Chas Freeman's stated opinions on the Middle East and China have been characterized as so radical, that Frank Gaffney, the President of the Center for Security Policy, has suggested that Chas Freeman should be considered an "agent of influence" for Saudi Arabia, China, and even Iran and Hamas.

These ties and opinions are troubling considering that the National Intelligence Council is responsible for preparing National Intelligence Estimates that are relied upon by the United States government for the conduct of its foreign policy and national security policy. Furthermore, Chas Freeman has no experience in intelligence gathering or analysis.

Chas Freeman is currently head of something called the Middle East Policy Council, officially a a non partisan public affairs group, but actually a thinly disguised public relations firm financed by the Saudi Arabian government. Chas Freeman also sits on the international advisory board of the China National Offshore Oil Corp, a firm owned by the Chinese government and various state owned Chinese firms. The Chinese National Offshore Oil Corp has investments in the Sudan, Iran, and a number of other Middle Eastern countries. Members of Congress are already demanding investigations into Chas Freeman's foreign ties, suggesting a number of conflicts of interest.

Chas Freeman's foreign policy views are alarming, to say the least. For example Chas Freeman's opinions about the brutal suppression of the Chinese student uprising in Tiananmen Square, according to the Wall Street Journal, are-mildly speaking-unique:

"On the massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989, Mr. Freeman unabashedly sides with the Chinese government, a remarkable position for an appointee of an administration that has pledged to advance the cause of human rights. Mr. Freeman has been a participant in ChinaSec, a confidential Internet discussion group of China specialists. A copy of one of his postings was provided to me by a former member. 'The truly unforgivable mistake of the Chinese authorities,' he wrote there in 2006, 'was the failure to intervene on a timely basis to nip the demonstrations in the bud.' Moreover, 'the Politburo's response to the mob scene at Tiananmen stands as a monument to overly cautious behavior on the part of the leadership, not as an example of rash action.' Indeed, continued Mr. Freeman, 'I do not believe it is acceptable for any country to allow the heart of its national capital to be occupied by dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may be.'"

The "cautious behavior" consisted of loosing tanks and soldiers on peaceful student protestors and slaughtering thousands of them.

Chas Freeman's opinions on the Middle East are just as alarming.

"Unsurprisingly, Mr. Freeman has views about Middle East policy that differ rather 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.

"While President Obama speaks of helping the people of Israel 'search for credible partners with whom they can make peace,' Mr. Freeman believes, as he said in a 2007 address to the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, that 'Israel no longer even pretends to seek peace with the Palestinians; it strives instead to pacify them.' The primary reason America confronts a terrorism problem today, he continued, is 'the brutal oppression of the Palestinians by an Israeli occupation that is about to mark its fortieth anniversary and shows no sign of ending.'"

Chas Freeman has also called for diplomatic engagement with Iran and even Hamas, the latter a brutal terrorist organization that rules the Gaza Strip. Chas Freeman would eschew a military attack on Iran, even to stop it from having a nuclear arsenal.

Chas Freeman's appointment to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council seems to be yet another in a long line of poorly vetted appointments made by the Obama administration to top government posts. Unfortunately Chas Freeman's appointment is not subject to advice and consent from the Senate, so whether he remains as Chairman of the NIC solely depends on the capacity of the Obama administration to be embarrassed by his views and his conflicts of interest.

Sources: Obama's Intelligence Choice, Gabriel Schoenfeld, Wall Street Journal, February 25th, 2009

Garbage in, garbage out, Frank Gaffney, Washington Times, March 3rd, 2009

Foreign ties of nominee questioned, Eli Lake, Washington Times, March 5th, 2009