Kathy Shaidle: On Monday, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair announced that Charles Freeman had withdrawn his name from consideration for the post of Chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC), ending weeks of acrimonious debate that had been triggered by Freeman’s nomination. But while Freeman has receded from the spotlight, his selection to a critical intelligence post – despite a deeply troubling political background – lingers as a dark cloud over the Obama administration.[…]How telling that someone like Freeman, before his fall, had been appointed by the Obama administration for such a sensitive position, especially one that did not require Congressional approval. Given Freeman’s undisputed ties to Saudi Arabia and China, any advice he would have offered the President could well have been compromised by conflicts of interest. The results might have proven fatal. Although Freeman was not personally appointed by Obama, the administration allowed the controversy to build for days without comment. The fiasco is another embarrassment for a new administration whose brief transition period has already been marred by similar examples of confusion and poor judgment coming out of the White House.
Read it all here. KGSFarewell to a very bad choice for the NIC
