Posted by David Bernstein:
New Chairman of the National Council of Intelligence:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_01-2009_03_07.shtml#1235906972
[1]It's a fellow named Chas. Freeman who, among other things, is the
former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, [2]and the president of a
Saudi government-funded "public relations" organization, the [3]Middle
East Policy Council. Surely, the "no blood for oil crowd" is outraged
by the appointment of someone with close ties to the Saudis to such a
sensitive position?
Then there's this, an email Freeman wrote a few years back, uncovered
by Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard, that argues that the
Chinese acted with "ill-conceived restraint" before massacring unarmed
demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. The only thing the Chinese
murderers were guilty of was "overly cautious behavior." You have to
read the whole thing to believe it [perhaps not coincidentally,
Freeman [4]also co-chairs the U.S.-China Policy Foundation, which
agitates for closer U.S.-China ties]:
I will leave it to others to address the main thrust of your
reflection on Eric's remarks. But I want to take issue with what I
assume, perhaps incorrectly, to be yoiur citation of the
conventional wisdom about the 6/4 [or Tiananmen] incident. I find
the dominant view in China about this very plausible, i.e. that the
truly unforgivable mistake of the Chinese authorities was the
failure to intervene on a timely basis to nip the demonstrations in
the bud, rather than -- as would have been both wise and
efficacious -- to intervene with force when all other measures had
failed to restore domestic tranquility to Beijing and other major
urban centers in China. In this optic, the Politburo's response to
the mob scene at "Tian'anmen" stands as a monument to overly
cautious behavior on the part of the leadership, not as an example
of rash action.
For myself, I side on this -- if not on numerous other issues --
with Gen. Douglas MacArthur. I do not believe it is acceptable for
any country to allow the heart of its national capital to be
occupied by dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of
government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may
be. Such folk, whether they represent a veterans' "Bonus Army" or a
"student uprising" on behalf of "the goddess of democracy" should
expect to be displaced with despatch from the ground they occupy. I
cannot conceive of any American government behaving with the
ill-conceived restraint that the Zhao Ziyang administration did in
China, allowing students to occupy zones that are the equivalent of
the Washington National Mall and Times Square, combined. while
shutting down much of the Chinese government's normal operations. I
thus share the hope of the majority in China that no Chinese
government will repeat the mistakes of Zhao Ziyang's dilatory
tactics of appeasement in dealing with domestic protesters in
China.
I await the brickbats of those who insist on a politically correct
-- i.e. non Burkean conservative -- view.
Surely, Obamaphiles who have been pushing for years to encourage U.S.
policy toward China to focus more on human rights are up in arms?
In fact, while I'm sure such people do exist, a quick survey of blogs
to the left of The New Republic shows that those who have chosen to
comment are expressing [DEL: contentment :DEL] glee over Freeman's
appointment. Why, because he is a "realist" about Israel, a polite way
of saying he's expressed a fair amount of [5]hostility both to Israel
and its American supporters. Here's [6]The Nation, [7]TPM Cafe's M.J.
Rosenberg, and [8]Matthew Yglesias. And these are the folks that claim
that Israel-related matters distort the neoconservatives perspective
on world events! In fairness, other liberal blogs are maintaining a
studious, perhaps embarrassed, silence. It's entirely possible that
some bloggers are mortified by Freeman, but are not prepared to
"undermine" Obama.
References
1. http://reason.com/blog/show/131843.html
2.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/02/the_saudi_lobby_and_us_foreign.asp
3. http://www.mepc.org/about/freeman.asp
4.
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=320630844972971
5. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123552619980465801.html
6.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/412288/freeman_appointed_to_key_intel_post
7.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/26/obama_rebuffs_neocons_appoints_freeman/
8. http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/02/chas_freemans_in.php
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