Let’s play a little game, shall we? Can you tell me who made the following statements?
1.) “Israel no longer even pretends to seek peace with the Palestinians; it strives instead to pacify them.”
America must deal with terrorism due to “the brutal oppression of the Palestinians by an Israeli occupation that is about to mark its fortieth anniversary and shows no sign of ending.”
Translation: Israel is the enemy and it is American support of Israel that is the root cause of terrorist threats against the United States.
2.) Any threat from the Chinese is merely “a great fund-raiser for the hyper-expensive advanced weaponry our military-industrial complex prefers to make and our armed forces love to employ.”
“The truly unforgivable mistake of the Chinese authorities was the failure to intervene on a timely basis to nip the [Tiananmen Square] demonstrations in the bud.”
“The Politburo’s response to the mob scene at ‘Tiananmen’ stands as a monument to overly cautious behavior on the part of the leadership, not as an example of rash action.”
“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.”
Translation: The massacre at Tiananmen Square was an acceptable response, for the people should not have a voice.
Unless you’ve been very, very good about reading all the news today, you are probably thinking this comes from some foreign-based lunatic, right? Unfortunately, no. These are quotes from one Charles “Chas” Freeman, Jr., a former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who has just been appointed by President Obama as chairman of the National Intelligence Council.
Yes, indeedy. These and other anti-Semitic* and equally vile statements have come from the mouth of an American. An American whom President Barack Hussein Obama wishes to chair the group that was created to provide factual and unbiased mid- and long-term strategic thinking for the U.S. Intelligence community.
That’s a choice about as “fair and balanced” as the mainstream media, if you ask me. And even if you didn’t ask me I’ll still tell you that it’s bad, bad news.
What should truly frighten you is that this appointment requires no Senate confirmation. So President Obama’s choice will stand, regardless the damage it does to this country’s ability to remain level-headed when other countries go into a tailspin. Indeed, I would venture to guess that this is yet another not-so-subtle jab at Israel, another hint that our ally is being set up to take the fall for us with Iran.
Is this some low-budget B-movie version of the bipartisanship so often touted, nay, promised by President Obama? How in the name of anything holy or unholy does this dangerously bigoted choice help the people of Israel “search for credible partners with whom they can make peace”? How on earth does such a tyrannical perspective further those hope and change promises to support and advance human rights?
Was it all yet another lie to toss on the already high and stinking pile or are we going to hear yet another “oops!”? If the President couldn’t be bothered to read the stimulus bill, I suppose he couldn’t be bothered to read any background information about Charles Freeman, Jr., either.
* – “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” by professors John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, recently published by the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC). The Wall Street Journal states that this controversial 2006 essay argued that American Jews have a “stranglehold” on the U.S. Congress, which they employ to tilt the U.S. toward Israel at the expense of broader American interests. Charles Freeman, Jr. has both endorsed the paper’s thesis and boasted of MEPC’s intrepid stance: “No one else in the United States has dared to publish this article, given the political penalties that the Lobby imposes on those who criticize it.”