Charles Freeman, a veteran diplomat slated to become the top U.S. intelligence analyst, withdrew from consideration on Tuesday, March 10. He released a statement denouncing the “Israel Lobby” for “character assassination.” He appeared on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS on March 15 and issued the same charges. Mr. Freeman charged “they have a hammer lock on public policy.” He blamed right wing Jews in America and Israel for his withdrawl from the nomination.
Hugh Hewitt, a conservative radio talk show host, had a group of guests on his program to discuss the Charles Freeman withdrawl. There were both defenders and opposers to Freeman on the show. Apparently Mr. Freeman is a strong supporter of Arabs and Saudi Arabia. He also was a strong supporter of China’s crackdown in Tiananmen Square (although he denies the accusation).
From Commentary Magazine:
Congressman Frank Wolf is afforded space in the opinion pages of the Washington Post — where one needs to go for reported facts — to explain why he was instrumental in provoking the withdrawal of Chas Freeman. It wasn’t the Jewish blogosphere or AIPAC, as the Post’s Walter Pincus seemed to believe, (without ever actually investigating). And it wasn’t the “Israel-centric fanatics” the category in which Glenn Greenwald places Chief of Staff in Rahm Emanuel.
Wolf explains:
For almost four years, Freeman served on the advisory board of the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), receiving $10,000 a year for his service. The communist government of China, along with other state-owned companies, are majority stakeholders in CNOOC. Yet Freeman claims that he never received money from a foreign government. The connection may not be direct, but it is certainly there. The same can be said of the paycheck he received from the Middle East Policy Council, which received ample funding from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia — whose regime is responsible for funding madrassas around the globe that have given rise to Islamic fundamentalists such as Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban.
Fareed Zakaria asked his viewers their opinion at the end of the broadcast. I waited for the results of that question to learn what most responding viewers thought. I am disappointed to learn that a majority do think that there is a pro-Israel lobby in Washington that does have the super power to influence U.S. policy related to the Middle East.
There are 5 million Jews in the United States. That number equals 1.66% of the whole population. Jews only have influence because they are mostly well educated and do contribute to political parties. To believe that Jews can impact American policy is not reasonable given their small population. After all who cares what they want? They are too small a group to influence the outcome of anything. I will attest they are mostly smart. Some are brilliant. Still, they are just too small a group to influence the U.S. policy. Right wing Jews in America would be a minority within a minority. American Jews are notoriously supporters of liberal causes.
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