Pelosi Won't Take Credit For Sinking Freeman

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who reportedly urged President Obama against the selection of Chas Freeman to serve in a top intelligence position, spoke publicly for the first time on Thursday about his nomination. Freeman withdrew his name on Wednesday.

"I saw in the paper this morning my name quoted in association with this. I never made a public statement about Chas Freeman's nomination," Pelosi said in response to a question from the Huffington Post. "The conversation I had that was quoted in the paper was in a classified setting which I would never quote, nor should anyone else have."

Newseek earlier reported that Pelosi was "incensed" by Freeman's views of the Tiananmen Square massacre - he thought the Chinese were too soft -- and said that such a position was "indefensible."

Pelosi has been a longtime critic of China's record of human rights abuses.

Freeman, for his part, credited the "Israel Lobby" for derailing his nomination. The Washington Post reported Thursday that AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, had worked behind the scenes to scuttle his selection.

Comments

[blueskybigstar]

This AIPAC problem and "off the table" Pelosi politicians must be solved. Could this whole economic mess been solved with an impeachment of the last administration?

[AnnfromCA]

I'll never quite get why Obama chose this highly controversial appointment.

[supatou]

Read his resume.

And, he's not in Israel's pocket and that's a good thing. For Israel as well in my view.

[skialethia]

Hate to break it to you, but he is on film mingling with the crowd at an Aipacconvention and taking pictures with members. Sorry to burst your balloon.

[Christian]

Anyone who would approach the Israels and Arab conflict with equal balanced positions is considered controversial. Only if you support Israel first are you not going to be controversal in this country and that is a shame.

[skialethia]

You'll be glad to know that he didn't choose him, Admiral Blair chose him and Obama didn't come to his defense, becauseAipac is the boss of Obama!

Are you satisfied??? Does it make you sleep better???

[Yermammy]

The mere fact AIPAC is too cowardly to take credit for this smearing and employing weak journalists to get anonymous sources to misinform on this appointment is par for the course in Washington. The fact that the "Israel lobby" protests this is the epitome of hypocrisy since they've been a major weapons technology supplier to China for years (Russia being the only larger seller). And pardon me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall AIPAC getting it's panties in a twist when Bush was all kissy faced with the Saud when he was twirling swords and holding hands. George Washington warned against "foreign entanglements and alliances" and what we have here is an obscene amount of that. Israel is our doormat into the middle east, with Iraq being an extension of that neoconic plan. With us having over 1000 Military bases worldwide, a tanking economy and a Pentagon that wants all the latest toys, we are fixing to find out the true meaning of "blowback". Karma is coming-- big time.

[EspressoAtNoon]

Pelosi eats out of the hands of the Israel Lobby. On EVERY issue she gets her orders from AIPAC. Thousands of Gazan women and children slaughtered - Pelosi blames Hamas.

Jimmy Carter honestly and candidly describes what's going on in the occupied territories, and Pelosi reads AIPAC's talking points as a refute.

[pgmark]

You have things a little mixed up here.
Carter has been bought and paid for by Arab interest.
They keep his peanut business going.

Hamas is the innocent Palistian's problem - They are the ones who set them up to be killed.

Israel is going nowhere - Hamas should learn this - they will not be wiped off the map.

Maybe if Hamas would give peace with Israel a chance - like other countries in the area have - life would improve.

[locust]

Maybe things would improve if Israel obeyed international law, starting with UN Security Council res. 242 from 1967 (40 years ago and still ignored).

After all, one of the two goals for the US invasion of Iraq (enabled by Public Law 107-243) was to force Iraq to obey UN S.C. resolutions.

Evidently, obeying international law is not important for our friends.

Hypocrisy is not winning us many friends worldwide.

[Samlas]

So why does AIPAC have such influence on our elected officials?

[WADIIAH]

We're their bitches!

[ebbtide]

Money, votes and power.

[Yermammy]

They think they're helping each other but in reality, they're feeding off each other. Israel can keep acting like the spoiled little brother antagonizing it's neighbors and we let them for the placemarker they provide in the middle east for the oil we're seizing. Afghanistan is being fought for the shortest natural gas lines through that country via Unocal.
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/oil.html
It's ALL about the oil. It's peaked and no one wants to tell the unwashed about it. Our oceans are going sterile from too much acid, the earth is warming and we're out running out of fuel. Now I must go; Oprah's coming on in ten minutes!