THE FREEMAN BEAT - AT 7:49 P.M. ET:  The selection of Charles Freeman Jr. to be head of the National Intelligence Council continues to roil the waters.  We've been following the story.  Freeman is an apologist for both China and Saudi Arabia.  He has strange tastes in friends.  From the Washington Times:

Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence are vowing increased scrutiny of national intelligence estimates if Charles “Chas” W. Freeman Jr. oversees their production.

In a letter sent Monday to Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence, seven Republican senators - led by the panel's vice chairman, Christopher S. Bond, Missouri Republican - said the appointment of Mr. Freeman as chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC), “sends the wrong message.”

COMMENT:  It's sad that only Republicans are raising objections.  Democrats, who are oh so sensitive about our "treatment" of Gitmo detainees, seem, with a few exceptions, to be unconcerned about Freeman's praise of the Tiananmen Square massacre or his vile comments about Israel.  Freeman is a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and his ties to that country's government should be put under a microscope.  The "kingdom" has a long history of taking good care of its friends.

March 9, 2009