"This is a really serious error on the part of Dennis Blair and the
Obama administration," Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security
Policy and an official under the administration of President Ronald Reagan,
said.
"Both in government and certainly in the period since he left
government, he has compromised the objectivity that one would want in the
person whose job it is to oversee the production of National Intelligence
Estimates."
The sources said Blair sent Freeman on missions to China when the former was
head of U.S. Pacific Command. From 1979 to 1981, Freeman was director for
Chinese affairs at the State Department.
As NIC chairman, the sources said, Freeman, who joined the State
Department in 1965, would serve as gatekeeper to U.S. intelligence. They
said he would decide what intelligence and analysis would be released to
Congress and the American public.
In 2007, NIC released a National Intelligence Estimate that asserted that Iran abandoned its
nuclear weapons program in 2003, a conclusion later renounced by many in the
Bush administration.
"This man can't help himself," a government source who worked with
Freeman said. "He is rabidly anti-Semitic and everything he does ends up
involving Israel and Jews."
"As NIC chief, Freeman would encourage rapproachment with Iran and an
appeasement policy toward China," a congressional staffer who worked with
Freeman said. "He will play a very significant role in the U.S. intelligence
community."
The sources recall one government briefing by Freeman on China that
included Jewish staffers of Congress. At one point in the briefing, the
sources said, Freeman pointed to the Jews, calling them "you people" and
questioning their loyalty to the United States.
"It was shocking, mostly because the briefing had nothing to do with
Israel, the Middle East or Jews," a participant said. "He just simply saw
some Jews in the room and went at them."
The sources said Obama did not seek Freeman, who never held a job in the
intelligence community, to chair NIC. They said Freeman, president of the
Saudi-funded Middle East Policy Council since 1997, was sought by Blair and
approved by CIA director Leon Panetta.
On Feb. 26, Blair formally selected Freeman as NIC chairman. The
appointment does not require approval by Congress.
"Freeman is reportedly the Obama administration's pick to be the next
chairman of the hugely sensitive National Intelligence Council, a position
from which he would be able to exercise profound influence on U.S. policies
towards Iran," the CSP eport said.
Several members of Congress have called for an investigation into the
appointment of Freeman. The members, including House Republicans and
Democrats, have demanded a review of Freeman's links with Saudi Arabia and
whether they pose a conflict of interest with his new job.
"In a position as critical as this, we need to ensure that American
interests are being served and that no one in the position has established
ties to other governments or entities materially supported by foreign
governments," Rep. Steve Israel, a New York Democrat and member of the House
Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, wrote in a letter to Edward Maguire,
inspector-general of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.