From Ben Smith at the Politico: The controversial appointee to chair President Barack Obama’s National Intelligence Council walked away from the job Tuesday as criticism on Capitol Hill escalated. Charles W. Freeman Jr., the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, had been praised by allies and by the ...

Chas Freeman has been forced to pull his name out of consideration for the chairmanship of the National Intelligence Council. I knew it was too good to be true. Pressure from pro-Israel members of Congress, AIPAC, and the Israeli leadership turned out to be too much. Once again Israel has shown that...

Oh, the Israel lobby is up in arms over this one!  Former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chas W. Freeman, will be appointed to head the National Intelligence Council.  The Council prepares national intelligence estimates for the president, and in the Bush administration this became a pivotal and...