Regarding Laura Rozen’s post of Freeman’s exit letter, the whole thing is an excellent read!

Freeman pulls no punches as he exits, and though The Villagers won’t deign to notice (it’s not kosher, doncha know?), I applaud Freeman’s statement for speaking “truth to power” even when power refuses to listen.

So I guess the score is now 647 kazillion to Zero.

I wonder when, if ever again, the United States Foreign Policy interests will by decided by those who have the United States’ interests foremost at heart?

Guess none of us are holding our breath.

This is who Schumer is playing to.. what else is new?

http://www.zoa.org/sitedocumen…..ertID=1592
Urge Members of Congress to sign on to the
Congressional Letter Asking for an Investigation
of Chas Freeman’s Past and Current Activities
on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

ZOA: Obama Appointee ‘One of the Most Anti-Israel Ever’

Reported: 07:28 AM – Feb/26/09

(IsraelNN.com) Chas W. Freeman, nominated by President Barack Obama to be chairman of the National Intelligence Council, is hostile to Israel and should not occupy a senior intelligence position, according to Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) national president Morton A. Klein. He charged that Freeman’s previous statements “explicitly justify Palestinian terrorism as reasonable behavior in response to what he calls the ‘inherently violent’ presence of Jews living and building communities in Judea and Samaria.”

Klein said that the ZOA is “appalled and perturbed that President Obama has turned to this clear apologist for Arab autocracies, facilitator of anti-Semitic smears and vicious defamer of Israel, when seeking someone to occupy a senior appointment in our intelligence community.”

Freeman has maintained that one of the ways to end terrorism in the Middle East is stop “the brutal oppression of the Palestinians by an Israeli occupation.” He has blamed Israel for “universalizing anti-Americanism [and] legitimizing radical Islamism.”

Now that Marty Peretz is back in the padded cell driver’s seat at TNR, it’s to ∞ and beyond!
Next year in Damascus, and all that.

Well, Blair evidently views climate change and financial instability as national security issues. Schumer, Dem from Wall Street, might want to rethink how he looks going up against Blair in an era when the rest of the news headlines contain the words “Madoff” and “Stanford” (i.e., Allen).

this is an excellent post on the Chas Freeman issue
http://www.thewashingtonnote.c…../chas_fre/
———————————————–

The same fundamentalist that took out General Zinni took out Charles Freeman

Whither Zinni

http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2…..her-zinni/
Those who have believed that the departured of Dubya from the oval office will mean that Israeli politicians will no longer be able to call up American presidents and tell them what to do should think twice. The story of General Anthony Zinni’s aborted appointment as ambassador to Iraq has received remarkably little attention and it has been attributed to his being a general and his directorship with major military contractor Dyncorp. Neither explanation is plausible as Hillary Clinton certainly knew he was a general when the appointment was discussed and the issue of Dyncorp never came up in the interview process.

Zinni was offered the position after an interview with Hillary Clinton at the end of January and even received a call from Joe Biden congratulating him on the next day, but the assignment was derailed in the following week. Christopher Hill received the ambassadorship instead of Zinni and Zinni received no explanation why he had been passed over, which reportedly irritated the hell out of him.

I have been informed by a State Department contact that Zinni was rejected after Clinton came under pressure from some major supporters in New York State who told her that the appointment was unacceptable to Israel because Zinni is perceived as “hostile” to the Jewish state. Zinni has, indeed, been critical of Israel on a number of occasions. Another source in the intelligence community has told me that Zinni was perceived as bad for Israel’s security because Israel regards Iraq as a “front line state” in its confrontation with Iran. If Israel were to attack Iran it would need overflight approval over Iraq, something that Zinni would be unlikely to approve, possibly even submitting his resignation to stop such a development. It is not clear if Hill would necessarily be more amenable, but as a career diplomat not known for being outspoken or independent minded he would be unlikely to rock the boat if Washington wanted to look the other way to enable an Israeli attack.

Freeman’s appointment failure had nothing to do with China and everything to do with Israel. Freeman has not drunk the kool ade.

Even mentioning that old fartbox makes me wonder if you are indifferent to the abuse of gerbils.

the middle east loses and so does the U.s. with Freeman out.

Charles Freeman really whacked the I lobby

hey where did that Freeman statement go that I just read?

“Rep. Steve Israel, a New York Democrat, was the first lawmaker to voice his concerns, calling on Feb. 27 for an inspector-general investigation into Mr. Freeman’s ties to the Saudi government. He was soon joined by a group of 10 other lawmakers, mostly Republicans.”

“Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) said he urged the White House behind the scenes to drop Mr. Freeman, because “his statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/…..87743.html

This is not the first time — remember Schumer also advocated for Bolton on Israel’s behalf… Note, he doesn’t even need a phone call from ‘the Lobby’ to do its bidding:

via thewashingtonnote.com: “…During the “third” major effort by the administration to get John Bolton confirmed as US Ambassador to the United Nations, one of the shocking parts of that battle was not only trying to get Republicans like former Senator Lincoln Chafee to stand strong against Bolton — but to undo the damage that Schumer was doing inside the Democratic Caucus.

Two Democratic Senators involved in that part of the Bolton battle — one on the Foreign Relations Committee and one not — told me personally that Senator Schumer called them to say “a vote against Bolton is a vote against Israel.”

Well, who does Schumer work for? The United States or Israel? And how ridiculous is that statement anyway?! Democrats and Republicans both have been excellent stewards of the US-Israel relationship in the United Nations. To personalize the national security issues between America and the Israelis was a sloppy, reckless mistake by Schumer — one that he and everyone now involved in this Mukasey matter should remember.

One heavyweight Democratic donor who tried to encourage Schumer to do whatever he needed to do on Bolton but stop lobbying the caucus was so frustrated with Schumer’s hyperventilating support for Bolton and enthusiastic conflation of the unconfirmed Ambassador and Israel that the donor told me, “that call just saved me a lot of money” — meaning he wouldn’t deal much with Schumer or his designs any longer.

Fortunately, Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Christopher Dodd undid the damage done by Schumer in a Democratic Caucus Luncheon and Dodd got the Dems to stand strong on Bolton despite Schumer’s lobbying against Democratic Party and American national interests.

That allowed Senator Lincoln Chafee — and behind the scenes Senator Richard Lugar — to deploy the final coup de grace to the Bolton confirmation effort.”..

http://www.thewashingtonnote.c…..002475.php

These early policy battles in Obama’s first year will send out ripples going forward. This was a battle AIPAC chose to shell with lots of political firepower. It appears the Obama WH could not take it. These early defeats will lead to places no one may see as yet but will surely regret once arriving to those places.

One perhaps could surmise AIPAC and those in TelAviv who run AIPAC and seek to align WashingtonDC along increasingly unsustainable Likud/Israeli zealotry driven purposes,goals and expansion policies may exceed political limits to this Israeli meddling in WashingtonDC. Or perhaps one can hope this is what will happen.

When the current pro Israel climate does change and someone like the 1950’s Joe McCarthy gets a big table and microphone to go after Israel it will be frightful times have come calling indeed for many who found AIPAC and pro Israeli political “business” lucrative in WashingtonDC.

Israel is playing with fire in thinking it can game WashingtonDC once the limits of American politics have been exceeded too often too blatantly.

Israel wants to attack Iran it is plain to see. Pulling WashingtonDC into this Israeli desire may well prove to be the start of the end to the current arrangements Israel has with WashingtonDC.

Netanyahu is just the guy to take Israel over the forbidden line.

Oh, but I’m sure that Obama has some larger plan that we can’t see that will result in a perfect solution for the ME. /s

Charles Freeman’s statement is so moving
Message from Charles Freeman
http://online.wsj.com/article/…..lenews_wsj

“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. 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. The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those that it favors.”

Utterly outrageous! There is not a sane voice in this Admin on I/P.

George Mitchell??

He might try, but he will back down under orders.

Spencer we all “lose” the U.S., Israel, the middle east, congress we all lose when someone like Zinni and Freeman are taken out by the lobby

Can you believe the I lobby still has so many of our congress people by the balls after two top officials in Aipac got caught red handed passing on classified intelligence to Israeli officials?

and they can still take out Zinni and Freeman with some e$$$$mails and phone$$$$calls. Would really like to see some group like the ACLU access those emails to Schumer’s , Israel’s, Clinton’s offices having to do with Freeman

Freeman “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.”

Whose orders would force him to back down? What orders, if harmful, would keep him from resigning and speaking out?

Well, since NIC does not require confirmation, why not put Zinni in?

Here’s my email to Schumer, fwiw:

I am sickened by your McCarthyite smearing of Charles Freeman and your gleeful dance at the sinking of his nomination. I am the son of Holocaust survivors, and you should know that not all Jews share the one-dimensional perspective to which you so mindlessly and dangerously pander.

As was true for your support of the Iraq war; the nominations to high Federal office of Mukasey, Hayden, and (no, we haven’t forgotten) Kerik; and the decimation of Glass-Steagall and related regulations that could have prevented the excesses that have brought the economy to ruin, you are on the wrong side of history and rectitude regarding Israel/Palestine generally and the Freeman nomination specifically.

I sincerely hope the President nominates an even more vocally even-handed critic of Mideast policy to replace Freeman, and if you torpedo that one, that the next nominee is more strident still, until you get the message.

I don’t think the Lobby had anything to do with Zinni. My understanding is that was Richard Holbrooke trying to get his homie Chris Hill the Iraq ambassadorship.

So, When did the United States of America become a client state of Israeli extremists?

This is disgusting. It is time to slay this dragon. And the dragon is not Israel. It is undemocratic interest groups that have sectarian and not necessarily American loyalties. There will be a time to pick a fight with these forces, but the field of battle, and the time, must be carefully chosen.

Bob in HI

Your wrong

Whither Zinni
http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2…..her-zinni/

Those who have believed that the departured of Dubya from the oval office will mean that Israeli politicians will no longer be able to call up American presidents and tell them what to do should think twice. The story of General Anthony Zinni’s aborted appointment as ambassador to Iraq has received remarkably little attention and it has been attributed to his being a general and his directorship with major military contractor Dyncorp. Neither explanation is plausible as Hillary Clinton certainly knew he was a general when the appointment was discussed and the issue of Dyncorp never came up in the interview process.

Zinni was offered the position after an interview with Hillary Clinton at the end of January and even received a call from Joe Biden congratulating him on the next day, but the assignment was derailed in the following week. Christopher Hill received the ambassadorship instead of Zinni and Zinni received no explanation why he had been passed over, which reportedly irritated the hell out of him.

I have been informed by a State Department contact that Zinni was rejected after Clinton came under pressure from some major supporters in New York State who told her that the appointment was unacceptable to Israel because Zinni is perceived as “hostile” to the Jewish state. Zinni has, indeed, been critical of Israel on a number of occasions. Another source in the intelligence community has told me that Zinni was perceived as bad for Israel’s security because Israel regards Iraq as a “front line state” in its confrontation with Iran. If Israel were to attack Iran it would need overflight approval over Iraq, something that Zinni would be unlikely to approve, possibly even submitting his resignation to stop such a development. It is not clear if Hill would necessarily be more amenable, but as a career diplomat not known for being outspoken or independent minded he would be unlikely to rock the boat if Washington wanted to look the other way to enable an Israeli attack.

For the last 60 years

The scandal that dare not speak its name.

I imagine there’d be headlines if this were an Islamic lobby.

-G

here is what Jinsa had to say about Charles Freeman’s appointment
http://www.jinsa.org/node/939
Charles “Chas” Freeman is an appalling choice for Chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC). As President of the Saudi-funded Middle East Policy Council, Mr. Freeman functions as lobbyist, making his analysis suspect. And his analysis is, in any event, appalling. Gabriel Schoenfeld, in The Wall Street Journal’s “Opinion Journal,” reveals a once private 2006 Freeman Internet post that Schoenfeld says, “was provided to me by a former member” of a private site. Freeman is said to have written of the 1989 Chinese massacre in Tiananmen Square:

The truly unforgivable mistake of the Chinese authorities was the failure to intervene on a timely basis to nip the demonstrations in the bud… 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.

What he has written about Israel, and reprinted from Walt and Mearsheimer, is suspect because of his financial ties to the Saudis and appalling in its inability to differentiate between a Western democratic ally under siege from a combination of terrorists and the states that harbor and support them, and those very states and terrorist organizations. This is a problem he shares with Samantha Power at the National Security Council.

You would think reporters would be following up on those “emails and phone calls” to Schumer’s office and Hillary’s office in regard to Zinni

You’re quoting Philip Giraldi as a reliable source? This is a guy you want to believe?

Tell me why not? I guess the way for a reporter to find out would be to call Hillary’s office or aides to find out

oh the wise Obama must be playing 11th dimensional chess here, and we are too simple to understand. What looks like a capitulation to the same idiots who led the charge into Iraq must be a deft strategic move, maybe a way of keeping some powder dry for a bigger fight, a huge advance in the Mideast Peace Process Obama has a Secret Plan for?

Just like the appointment of Rahm, with his passionate attachment to a country other than the USA, Obama moves in seemingly mysterious ways, but those in the Left Blogosphere who support him so fervently, their faith will never waver . . . . will it?

Phillip Giraldi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Giraldi

s a former officer of the United States Central Intelligence Agency who became famous for claiming in 2005 that the USA was preparing plans to attack Iran with nuclear weapons in response to a terrorist action against the US, independently of whether or not Iran was involved in the action. He is presently a partner in an international security consultancy, Cannistraro Associates.[1][2]
Contents

Scott Horton seems to trust Phillip Giraldi
http://antiwar.com/radio/2008/…..iraldi-11/
Philip Giraldi discusses his recent article “The Spy Who Loves Us: Israeli Espionage In America” about the extensive Israeli spy network inside America and their surveillance of the 9/11 hijackers, the corroboration of their spying by U.S. intelligence agencies, the case of spy Jonathan Pollard and how Israel passes it’s stolen intel on to many enemies of America, the still secret identity of Israeli very top level asset “Mega,” the spy for Israel, Ben-Ami Kadish, and his treasonous crimes, the Israeli and Iranian influence in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, the White House/Iranian “negotiation” charade, and the planning for and consequences of an attack against Iran – including the possible use of nuclear weapons.

Scott Horton
http://harpers.org/subjects/ScottHorton

another interview with Phillip Giraldi and Bob Dreyfuss
http://weekendinterviewshow.co…..aspx?i=139

Because he spread a story that the US was about to use nuclear weapons in an attack on Iran might be a reason to doubt him. Did this attack happen?

Scott Ritter, Seymour Hersch, Phillip Giraldi…all claimed that the Bush administration and possibly Israel had plans to attack Iran. Damn good company in my book.

think I will believe Phillip giraldi and not you Macaquerman.

Seymour Hersch
the Iran Plans
http://www.newyorker.com/archi…..417fa_fact

Scott Ritter on potential attack on Iran
http://www.informationclearing…..le8130.htm

The head of the Iaea El baradei thought the Bush administration or Israel might attack Iran
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.a…..=351020104
ElBaradei: If you attack Iran, I quit

THINK I WILL PLACE MY BETS ON WHAT THIS GROUP SAID MACAQUERMAN AND NOT WHAT YOU SAY.

Tell me that you understand the difference between planning for an attack on Iran and planning to attack Iran using nuclear weapons.
Tell me that you understand that it’s a BIG difference.

OK, you two: shake hands and break it up. No good can come of this continued dispute.

so where are all the Liberal apologists, so quick to claim Obama staffs his administration based on competence, not ideology?

here we have a clear cut case where an ideological litmus test was applied, and a qualified, competent candidate was thrown under the bus.

I was just backing up my point

My hand is extended and I stand by my point. Later

Discussion on same issue going on over here
http://www.thewashingtonnote.c…../chas_fre/

George Mitchell will make no progress in the I/P situation.
If anyone thought he would, he’d have gotten the “Freeman Treatment.”
And he already knows this.

Still extending my hand Macaquerman..but don’t forget this
Air Force official fired after 6 nukes fly over U.S.
B-52 bomber, accidentally armed with warheads, went over several states
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20427730/

Here is Rozen’s post with Freeman’s exit letter. It is not a letter to either Blair or Obama, it is more a letter to the public.

I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to leave you with your hand out without grasping it. I was elsewhere.

At the risk of stirring things up again, and only if you won’t be upset, tell us how you know that Mitchell knows that he won’t get anywhere.
I was hoping that he would and thought that even if he didn’t fully succeed, the effort alone was worthwhile.

What’s to be upset about? Do you think that Mr. Mitchell would’ve been selected for the assignment if the elite weren’t sure that he’d stay within orthodoxy?

Yes. I do. Aside from an unfortunate attachment to the Red Sox and to Bud Selig, I think that Mitchell is pretty fair and very earnest.

I might also add that this is the guy who lobbied for the tobacco industry, fought the EPA on behalf of GE over cleaning up the Hudson River, and came down on a lot of pro baseball players without a single mention of the team owners who wallowed in the cash their steroid-pumped “stars” brought in for them.
George, “rectitude for sale” Mitchell knows exactly what is expected of him and he will perform brilliantly.

I could be wrong.
I hope I am.

I wouldn’t be this damn grumpy if you hadn’t provided a link to that Tobin guy.

Thanks. Again, even if you turn out to be right, making the effort, after the last eight years, should be worthwhile.

I want to point out that Scott Horton on Antiwar and Scott Horton of Harper’s are two different people. In fact, Scott Horton (antiwar.com) has interviewed Scott Horton (Harper’s) several times, and when he does he calls Scott Horton (Harper’s) “the real Scott Horton”.

You want to know who loses? The American people and the Israelis that want to live normal lives. With the warmongers leading the charge, now not only will the Israeli/Palestine problem never be solved (although it appears from Israel’s Warsaw Ghetto imitation in Gaza that they are working on a “final solution.”), but any chance that we had of regularizing conditions in Afghanistan are now down the tube. This is what happens when faith based politics trumps reality based politics. Thank you, Charles. I hope that you can sleep as well as W did when the body bags start really coming home from Afghanistan.

Spencer Ackerman,

The downside, of course, is that this scalping reinforces the point that you’re out of a job if you criticize Israel.

At this point, efforts to modify Israel’s tendency to steal Palestinian land and kill and starve hundreds of Palestinians for lobbing largely ineffective rockets across the border have not only not been worthwhile, they have been totally ineffective.
We need to change course in our relations with their continuing militaristic government. And a good first step is to withhold or, at least, sharply decrease, financial aid to Israel until THEY work out a peaceful solution with their neighbors.
And why, may I ask, is it the United States’ responsibility to broker a peace between Israel and its neighbors? Where are the Brits, the EU and UN on this? Why must it only be the U.S.?

It isn’t ONLY the US responsibility at all. It’s not even limited to the other parties you mention. Unless the Arabic states in the ME join in guaranteeing peace, I don’t see any peace will arrive or linger.
I do think that by trying to help start and nurture talks, especially if they are aimed at a more just solution than we’ve lately contemplated, we can’t lose much.

You can’t possibly be serious can you? In case you’re not aware of the history of Arab initiatives for peace, here is just one example:
http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/league/peace02.htm

I am quite aware and suggesting that the Arabs and the West are BOTH necessary for peace in I/P. What’s the problem with that?

By stating it this way:

Unless the Arabic states in the ME join in guaranteeing peace, I don’t see any peace will arrive or linger

you imply that the Arabs are the ones who haven’t joined. When in fact it is the United States that has not joined in a good long while. Perhaps you meant to say “Unless the United States and Israel join in guaranteeing peace, I don’t see how any peace will arrive or linger”

I didn’t imply that at all, didn’t even come close to thinking that way.
Read the comment that I was replying to and you’ll better understand the structure of my sentence.

If you’ll pardon me for saying so, it’s kinda funny that we are having this chat, given that we’re both hoping for peace.

I see what you’re saying. And yes! Peace.

Best Regards,
politicat

Thanks

you imply that the Arabs are the ones who haven’t joined. When in fact it is the United States that has not joined in a good long while.

Join what for christs sake ?
There’s several billion people on the planet. Name 3 you’d like to see give a motivational speech to the Ugandan ice hockey team before the next winter olympics.
Yes, that’s the correct answer, who gives a fuck who shows up if the result is already known.

It’s been 40 years. The US and other Arab states aren’t the RSVPs that are the problem.