The Impossible Happens!

No! Can Joe Lieberman actually be right about something? Charles Freeman, who he opposed, has withdrawn his bid to serve in the Obama administration, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

Now, who is this Charles Freeman? Well, for one thing, he is the President of the "Middle East Policy Center", formerly known as the "American Arab Affairs Council". Here, from Wikipedia, is their board:

The MEPC board of directors includes the following individuals:

• President - The Hon. Charles W. Freeman, Jr., Ambassador (U.S. Foreign Service, ret.); former Assistant Secretary of Defense.
• Member - Mr. Robert D. Bauerlein, Vice-president, International Operations, Boeing Company.
• Member - Mr. Curtis Brand, Chairman (ret.), ExxonMobil, Saudi Arabia, Inc.
• Member - Gen. Charles W. Brown, U.S. Army (ret.).
• Member - The Hon. Frank C. Carlucci, Chairman, The Carlyle Group; former U.S. Secretary of Defense.
• Member - Dr. Martha Neff Kessler, Consultant, Central Intelligence Agency (ret.)
• Member - The Hon. George McGovern, U.N. Global Ambassador on Hunger; former U.S. Senator (SD).
• Member - Mr. Talat M. Othman, President, Grove Financial, Inc., Chicago.
• 
  

Boeing, Exxon, Carlyle, the U.S. Army, the CIA. Boy that couldn't be a more fair minded group, could it? By the way, which Arabs do you suppose it is whose affairs so interest the Carlyle Group and Boeing?

Freeman also served on the U.S. Government funded "National Institute for Peace". That's got to be a noble institution, right, created as it was by the American Gandhi, R. Reagan? Here's their board of directors:

• J. Robinson West, (Chairman), Chairman, PFC Energy, Washington, D.C.
• María Otero (Vice Chairman), President, ACCION International, Boston, MA
• Holly J. Burkhalter, Vice President of Government Relations, International Justice Mission, Washington D.C.
• Anne Hessing Cahn, Former Scholar-in-Residence, American University
• Chester A. Crocker, James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
• Laurie S. Fulton, Williams & Connolly, Washington, D.C.
• Charles Horner, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Washington D.C.
• Kathleen Martinez, Executive Director, World Institute on Disability
• George E. Moose, Adjunct Professor of Practice, The George Washington University
• Jeremy A. Rabkin, Professor, George Mason University School of Law
• Ron Silver, Actor, Producer, Director, Primparous Productions, Inc.
• Judy Van Rest, Executive Vice President, International Republican Institute

Let's go through this one a little:
PFC Energy? From their website: "PFC Energy, Inc. provides advisory and consulting services for energy companies and governments..." Boy, that should help with peace, alright.
International Justice Mission- self described as existing within the Christian community and attempting to rekindle the social engagement of evangelical Christians.
Williams and Connolly- A corporate and securities law firm founded by that great humanitarian, Edward Bennett Williams.
Hudson Institute- Right wing think tank
Jeremy Rabkin- I think you can see all you need to know about this guy by reading this- His testimony before Congress in which he argued that "...the Bush Administration has acted with great caution." in its foreign adventures and its domestic security policies.
The International Republican Institute- a Republican Party front group.

Quite the group of peaceniks, huh?

Come on. Haven't we had enough of this kind of people running things?