Appointed two months ago by the Director of National Intelligence Adm. Dennis Blair to chair the National Intelligence Council (NIC), the body charged with producing analyses on key issues on behalf of all 16 agencies of the U.S. intelligence community, ret. Amb. Charles “Chas” Freeman withdrew his name in mid-March after a sustained campaign against the appointment by right-wing leaders of the so-called “Israel Lobby” concerned about his past criticism of Israel’s relations with its Arab neighbors, and particularly its treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
One of the most highly regarded and experienced diplomats of his generation, Freeman, now 66, was strongly supported not only by Blair, but also by many retired senior intelligence and foreign service officers, including former U.N. Amb. Thomas Pickering and Samuel Lewis, both of whom had themselves served at one time as ambassadors to Israel.
They, along with … >>>
