FREEMAN WITHDRAWS FROM POST, SLAMS ISRAEL 'LOBBY'

March 11/09. Charles (Chas) Freeman, who was slated to be picked as the new chairman of the National Intelligence Council, slammed the Israel 'Lobby' after withdrawing his candidacy for the post.

"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," Freeman said in a statement to Foreign Policy.

He added that, "The outrageous agitation that followed the leak of my pending appointment will be seen by many to raise serious questions about whether the Obama administration will be able to make its own decisions about the Middle East and related issues."

But Freeman's past remarks on Israel have stirred controversy. He is quoted as saying in 2007 that "The brutal oppression of the Palestinians by Israeli occupation shows no sign of ending," and "American identification with Israel has become total."

Freeman is a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and assistant secretary of defense for international security. He was also a senior U.S. diplomat in China in the 1980s. 

 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1070041.html

March 9/09.  With each announcement of a new appointee to the Obama Middle East foreign policy team the tilt against Israel increases.

Samantha Powers and James Jones, both with long records of antagonism towards Israel, were followed by lesser-known names of the same persuasion.  

George Mitchell, who carries the flag for moral equivalence is directed to mediate the Arab-Israeli impasse and, if past experience is any guide, will call on Israel to sacrifice its security and safety in exchange for an Arab promise not to wantonly kill Israeli civilians.

The appointment of Chas Freeman is the one move that is most problematical. One can grasp the problems with Freeman just by listening to him:

"The problem of terrorism that now bedevils us has its origins in.....the Middle East. To end this terrorism we must address the issues in the region that give rise to it. Principal among these is the brutal oppression of the Palestinians by an Israeli occupation. ....Israel no longer even pretends to seek peace with the Palestinians..." Freeman, May 2007.

But last week the administration did more than appoint. It shifted policy about 90 degrees towards Hamas in Gaza.

Secretary of State Clinton announced 300 to 900 million dollars in aid for Gaza, which is part of an almost 3 billion dollar EU package that makes the Israeli incursion into Gaza a joke. To underline the absurdity of this move, rockets again came down on southern Israel, hitting a school in Ashkelon that, fortunately, was not in session.

FULL ARTICLE>  http://jewishworldreview.com/0309/greenfield030909.php3