Charles Freeman withdrew his name as an appointee for Chairman of The National Intelligence Council.Freeman, formerly an ambassador to Saudi Arabia, is widely known to be critical of Israel and Israeli policy. This is important because in this Intelligence job, Freeman would have to sum up information from all intelligence reports. With Freeman's insensitivity to Israel and his suspected ties to foreign governments this would pose a jeopardy for Freeman making sound non-prejudicial decisions. The reports from this council have to be apolitical because all U.S. government decisions are based on its findings.
Freeman is not only known for his outspoken criticism of Israel, but also has spoken out against the war in Iraq, and the war on terror in general. Freeman's lack of objectivity is obvious and he is facing an uphill battle for senate approval.
Dennis Blair defended Freeman saying his outspoken remarks would be valuable. But many in congress don't see it that way. Senator Lieberman objected saying the controversy would not go away anytime soon.
Due to the fact that Charles Freeman has been such an aggressive critic of Israel, and that he has ties to China and Saudi Arabia should have made his selection an obvious error in judgment by Obama.
