WASHINGTON (AFP) — A veteran US diplomat and outspoken critic of Israel, Chas Freeman, has withdrawn from contention for a top US intelligence post, US intelligence director Dennis Blair announced Tuesday.
Freeman "has requested that his selection to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed. Director Blair accepted Ambassador Freeman?s decision with regret," Blair's office said in a statement.
The decision came after US lawmakers raised concerns about Freeman's financial links to China and Saudi Arabia and critics attacked past comments he made that they saw as overly critical of Israel or too sympathetic to the Palestinians.
"This was a wise decision by Admiral Blair," said Republican Representative Mark Kirk, one of Freeman's leading critics, who told AFP that the controversy underscored the need for better vetting of appointees to sensitive positions.
Kirk highlighted Freeman's ties to a think tank heavily funded by Saudi Arabia as well as his time on the board of a state-run Chinese oil giant, during which the firm "made major investments in Iran."
The announcement came hours after Blair delivered a ringing defense of Freeman to the Senate Armed Services Committee, calling him "a person of strong views, of an inventive mind and the analytical point of view."
"I think I can do a better job if I'm getting strong analytical viewpoints to sort out and pass on to you and to the president than if I am getting pre-cooked pablum judgments that don't really challenge," said Blair.
The intelligence chief said critics had taken some of Freeman's comments "out of context" and said his views on policy were largely irrelevant, because "Neither I nor anyone who works for me makes policy. Our job is to inform it."
Blair's office declined to say what specifically precipitated the decision to withdraw Freeman or to say when the intelligence chief would pick a replacement.
Blair had chosen Freeman, a former ambassador to Riyadh and senior diplomat in Beijing, to be chairman of the National Intelligence Council.
The post would have made him, in effect, the chief author of US "national intelligence estimates," assessments for US presidents and other decision makers on highly sensitive subjects.
The documents are designed to reflect the consensus view of all 16 US spy agencies on potential threats like Iran.
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