Chas Freeman was such an obviously bad choice to head the National Intelligence Council, it’s hardly surprising that he was forced out Tuesday.
What’s not obvious is how the Obama camp could have made such a poor selection in the first place.
Indeed, despite Freeman’s blatant conflicts of interest, enflamed biases and odious views, National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair continued to back him.
Yet as he quit, Freeman proved his critics’ fears well-founded: “There is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired,” he wrote, referring to what he called “the Israel Lobby.”
The lobby’s tactics, he said, “plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency.”
That was his response to warnings, from diverse sources, about his ties to foreign governments, his backing of China’s repression of dissent and his blaming Israel for Palestinian terror.
It’s hard to imagine anyone less appropriate to head the NIC, which produces influential intelligence reports. If key Obama underlings like Blair can’t see that, then there’s cause for real concern.