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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Obama's newest Israel basher

In Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, Gabriel Schoenfeld enlightens us a bit more about the anti-Israel views of Chas Freeman, President Obama's choice to head the National Intelligence Council.
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."
And unfortunately, this appointment is not likely to get a lot of scrutiny.
We have already seen a string of poorly vetted appointments from the Obama White House, like those of Tom Daschle and Bill Richardson, that after public scrutiny were tossed under the bus. The chairmanship of the National Intelligence Council differs from those cases, for it does not require Senate confirmation. If someone with such extreme views has been appointed to such a sensitive position, is this a reflection of Mr. Obama's true predilections, or is it proof positive that the Obama White House has never gotten around to vetting its own vetters?

Either way, if those complaining loudest about politicized intelligence have indeed placed a China-coddling Israel basher in charge of drafting the most important analyses prepared by the U.S. government, it is quite a spectacle. The problem is not that Mr. Freeman will shade National Intelligence Estimates to suit the administration's political views. The far more serious danger is that he will steer them to reflect his own outlandish perspectives and prejudices.
At The New Republic, Marty Peretz is even more critical (Hat Tip: Memeorandum):
Here is the most stunning prospective appointment of the Obama administration as yet. Not stunning as in "spectacular" or "distinguished" but stunning as in bigoted and completely out of synch with the deepest convictions of the American people. What's more, Charles "Chas" Freeman is a bought man, having been ambassador to Saudi Arabia and then having supped at its tables for almost two decades, supped quite literally, and supped also at home, courtesy of Prince Bandar, confidante of the Bushes who as everybody knows became extremely wealthy through the intimacy with the royal house, a story that has not been done adequately ever.
I suspect that Prince Bandar has warmer feelings for Chas Freeman - an appointee of a Democratic President - than his feelings for George W. Bush (43).
Chas Freeman is actually a new psychological type for a Democratic administration. He has never displayed a liberal instinct and wants the United States to kow-tow to authoritarians and tyrants, in some measure just because they may seem able to keep the streets quiet. And frankly, Chas brings a bitter rancor to how he looks at Israel. No Arab country and no Arab movement--basically including Hezbollah and Hamas--poses a challenge to the kind of world order we Americans want to see. He is now very big on Hamas as the key to bringing peace to Gaza, when in fact it is the key to uproar and bloodletting, not just against Israel but against the Palestinian Authority that is the only group of Palestinians that has even given lip-service (and, to be fair, a bit more) to a settlement with Israel.

That Freeman would be chosen as the president's gatekeeper to national intelligence is an absurdity. It would be as if I were appointed the gatekeeper to that intelligence.

But Freeman's real offense (and the president's if he were to appoint him) is that he has questioned the loyalty and patriotism of not only Zionists and other friends of Israel, the great swath of American Jews and their Christian countrymen, who believed that the protection of Zion is at the core of our religious and secular history, from the Pilgrim fathers through Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. And how has he offended this tradition? By publishing and peddling the unabridged John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, with panegyric and hysteria. If Freeman believes that this book is the truth he can't be trusted by anyone, least of all Barack Obama. I can't believe that Obama wants to appoint someone who is quintessentially an insult to the patriotism of some many of his supporters, me included.
I'd be curious to hear why Peretz thinks Chas Freeman is any different from Samantha Power or Robert Malley, both of whom have also expressed extreme anti-Israel views.

Those of us who place Israel at the top of our priorities tried to warn those of you who still care about Israel that Barack Hussein Obama would sell the Jewish State down the river for a pair of shoes. We cried over and over again to look at the foreign policy advisers with whom Obama was surrounding himself.

Sadly, all the Jewish liberals who are knee-jerk Democratic voters wouldn't listen. Four more years....

8 Comments:

At 12:21 AM, Blogger NormanF said...

American Jews are dumbass and they have lost the right to to complain about left-wing anti-Semitism.

Like they used to say in the 60s, if you aren't part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. American Jewry has become part of the problem in helping to elect an Administration filled with figures hostile to Israel.

 
At 12:22 AM, Blogger christine said...

obama has promised 900 millon to rebuild gaza...thats right he wants to award the very people who started the war..........obama is eveybody worst nightmare........we tried to warn people here in america.but te media is protecting him ..soon the american people well turn on him ..i pray...............

 
At 12:52 AM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Peretz knows Power personally and claims that she is nothing like the portrayal of her. For the most part, until now, he's attributed the anti-Israel actions of the Obama administration on Amb. Susan Rice.

As far as Malley is concerned, Peretz dismissed his influence in the campaign claiming that Malley wasn't part of the campaign.

Of course, Peretz is alone among pro-Israel, pro-Obama folks, who is starting to get disillusioned.

 
At 1:08 AM, Blogger NormanF said...

Soccer Dad, Martin Peretz is one of the few liberals who was and is genuinely pro-Israel. I don't think he speaks for the rest Left. If you look at the anti-Zionist Marxist moonbat Jews, they're rabidly calling for Israel's destruction under the banner of BDS.

That's what supporters of the State Of Israel are up against today.

 
At 9:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mayflower MUSLIMS??? What Obama's Proposed Intelligence Chief is Teaching Your Children

Intelligence? Where?

 
At 10:23 AM, Blogger NormanF said...

ROFLMAO! Anti-Semites are morons. They are not qualified to teach any one about Jews, since they have never met one in the flesh. I have so I am something of an authority on that score and those who don't know a thing about Jews should hold their peace. Just sayin'!

 
At 6:20 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Norman,

I know that Martin Peretz is truly pro-Israel.

I was simply pointing out that during the campaign he made excuses for Obama and questioned the integrity of those us wo disagreed.

It would be nice for him to acknowledge that he was unfair to those pro-Israel folks who were skeptical of Obama.

Outfits like the NJDC could learn something from Peretz.

Shy Guy's point is too little mentioned. MEPC which is funded by the Saudi government provides teacher training!

 
At 6:32 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

He calls himself an Orthodox Jews?!!!

I call him a Jew in name only and obama knows where to find them. Shame on you obama and shame on those Jews who don't support Israel.

 

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