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Obviously, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are rabid, hateful
paranoids -- total bigots and anti-Semites -- for having suggested that
there are powerful domestic political forces in the U.S. which
enforce Israel-centric orthodoxies and make it politically impossible
to question America's blind loyalty to Israel. What irrational lunacy on their part:
Obviously, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are rabid, hateful
paranoids -- total bigots and anti-Semites -- for having suggested that
there are powerful domestic political forces in the U.S. which
enforce Israel-centric orthodoxies and make it politically impossible
to question America's blind loyalty to Israel. What irrational lunacy on their part:
Director
of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that
Ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. has requested that his selection to
be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed. Director
Blair accepted Ambassador Freeman's decision with regret.
In
situations like this, it is often impossible to know whether the
appointee really did voluntarily withdraw or whether he was forced out
and is merely being allowed to say that he withdrew. To his credit,
Adm. Blair was in the Senate this morning defending Freeman from the likes of Joe Lieberman,
but everything that is publicly known about Freeman makes it seem
unlikely that he would have voluntarily withdrawn due to the shrieking
criticisms directed at him. If he were forced out -- and there's no
basis for assuming he was until there's evidence for that -- then that
reflects quite badly on the Obama administration's willingness to defy
the Bill Kristols, Marty Peretzes, and National Reviews of the world when it comes to American policy towards the Middle East.
In
the U.S., you can advocate torture, illegal spying, and completely
optional though murderous wars and be appointed to the highest
positions. But you can't, apparently, criticize Israeli actions too
much or question whether America's blind support for Israel should be
re-examined.
UPDATE: Prior to the announcement that the Freeman appointment was terminated, Max Blumenthal documented
that the man leading the anti-Freeman assault was Steve Rosen,
the long-time AIPAC official currently on trial for violations of
the Espionage Act in connection with the transmission of classified
U.S. information intended for Israel. Blumenthal also quotes foreign
policy analyst Chris Nelson as follows:
Freeman is stuck in the latest instance of the deadly
power game long played here on what level of support for controversial
Israeli government policies is a "requirement" for US public office.
If Obama surrenders to the critics and orders [Director of National
Intelligence Dennis Blair] to rescind the Freeman appointment to chair
the NIC, it is difficult to see how he can properly exercise leverage,
when needed, in his conduct of policy in the Middle East. That,
literally, is how the experts see the stakes of the fight now under way.
Blumethal
also suggested that right-wing Israel fanatics in the U.S. are
particularly interested in controlling how intelligence is analyzed due
to their anger over the NIE's 2007 conclusion that Iran had ceased its
pursuit of nuclear weapons.
"It's clear that
Freeman isn't going to be influenced by the lobby," Jim Lobe, the
Washington bureau chief of Inter Press Service, remarked to me. "They
don't like people like that, especially when they're in charge of
products like the NIE. So this is a very important test for them."
Blumenthal
further noted that the leader of the anti-Freeman crusade in the House,
Rep. Mark Kirk, is Congress' top recipient of AIPAC donations.
Identically, Greg Sargent previously reported that, in the Senate,
"concern" over Freeman was expressed by Sen. Chuck Schumer directly to Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Does
anyone doubt that it's far more permissible in American political
culture to criticize actions of the American government than it is the
actions of the Israeli Government? Isn't that rather odd, and quite
self-evidently destructive?
UPDATE II: Andrew Sullivan on "The Freeman Precedent":
Obama may bring change in many areas, but there is no possibility of change on the Israel-Palestine question. Having
the kind of debate in America that they have in Israel, let alone
Europe, on the way ahead in the Middle East is simply forbidden.
Even if a president wants to have differing sources of advice on many
questions, the Congress will prevent any actual, genuinely open debate
on Israel. More to the point: the Obama peeps never defended Freeman.
They were too scared. The fact that Obama blinked means no one else in
Washington will ever dare to go through the hazing that Freeman
endured. And so the chilling effect is as real as it is deliberate.
Actually,
Obama's DNI, Adm. Blair, did defend Freeman, but only today, and it's
true that no other Obama officials did. As usual, it was a bipartisan
onslaught of government officials marching in lockstep loyalty to AIPAC
mandates, with nobody outside of some bloggers and online writers
defending Freeman. Though I was just arguing yesterday that the rules for discussing Israel in the U.S. have become more permissive,
and I still think that, this outcome was probably inevitable given the
refusal of virtually all influential Beltway factions to deviate from
mandated loyalty to the right-wing Israel agenda. That it was
inevitable doesn't make it any less grotesque.
UPDATE III:
Chuck Schumer -- who supported Bush's nomination of Michael Hayden for
CIA Director despite his key role in implementing Bush's illegal
eavesdropping program, and supported Bush's nomination of Michael
Mukasey as Attorney General despite his refusal to say that
waterboarding was torture -- is now boasting about the role he played in blocking Freeman's appointment, all based on Freeman's crimes in speaking ill of the U.S. Israel:
Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position. His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration. I repeatedly urged the White House to reject him, and I am glad they did the right thing.
That's
certainly evidence that (a) Freeman was forced out, and (b) his
so-called "statements against Israel" were the precipitating cause.
UPDATE IV: Lynch mob leader Jonathan Chait of Marty Peretz's magazine, who spent the last week denying that Israel was the driving force behind the attacks on Freeman, brings himself to acknowledge the truth now that Freeman has been vanquished for his blasphemy:
Of course I recognize that the Israel lobby is powerful, and was a key element in the pushback against Freeman, and that it is not always a force for good.
What
I find most mystifying is that Israel-centric fanatics actually think
it is a good thing for Israel to impose these sorts of Israel-based
loyalty tests and orthodoxies on American politics. Polls show that
Americans overwhelmingly want the U.S. Government to be "even-handed" in the Israel/Palestinian dispute and substantial portions of Americans do not favor American policies towards Israel.
Isn't it rather obvious that at some point, there will be a
substantial and understandable backlash as Americans watch people like
Chuck Schumer openly boast that anyone who makes "statements against Israel"
that he deems "over the top" will be disqualified from serving in our
Government, despite a long and distinguished record of public service
and unchallenged expertise?
UPDATE V: Good for Charles Freeman for going down with a fight, issuing an impassioned and highly persuasive statement/warning about what the failure of his appointment, which he says he terminated, means for the U.S.:
I
am not so immodest as to believe that this controversy was about me
rather than issues of public policy. These issues had little to do with
the NIC and were not at the heart of what I hoped to contribute to the
quality of analysis available to President Obama and his
administration. Still, I am saddened by what the controversy and the
manner in which the public vitriol of those who devoted themselves to
sustaining it have revealed about the state of our civil society. It is
apparent that we Americans cannot any longer conduct a serious
public discussion or exercise independent judgment about matters of
great importance to our country as well as to our allies and friends.The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired,
still less to factor in American understanding of trends and events in
the Middle East. The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of
dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective
misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of
falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of
this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a
veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its
views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the
exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our
government other than those that it favors.There
is a special irony in having been accused of improper regard for the
opinions of foreign governments and societies by a group so clearly intent on enforcing adherence to the policies of a foreign government - in this case, the government of Israel.
I believe that the inability of the American public to discuss, or the
government to consider, any option for US policies in the Middle East
opposed by the ruling faction in Israeli politics has allowed that
faction to adopt and sustain policies that ultimately threaten
the existence of the state of Israel. It is not permitted for anyone in
the United States to say so. This is not just a tragedy for Israelis
and their neighbors in the Middle East; it is doing widening damage to
the national security of the United States.The
outrageous agitation that followed the leak of my pending appointment
will be seen by many to raise serious questions about whether the Obama
administration will be able to make its own decisions about the Middle
East and related issues. I regret that my willingness to serve the new
administration has ended by casting doubt on its ability to consider,
let alone decide what policies might best serve the interests
of the United States rather than those of a Lobby intent on enforcing
the will and interests of a foreign government.
Freeman's full statement is here. How
anyone thinks that it is helpful to Israel to impose these blatant
litmus tests of Israel-loyalty on American politics is truly
mystifying. Foreign policy expert Larry Rothkopf says
that the failure of Freeman's appointment "cost the United States
intelligence and policy communities the benefit of a truly unique mind
and set of perspectives" and "have also contributed to what can only be
characterized as a leadership crisis in the U.S. government." Judging
by Freeman's statement today, Rothkopf is absolutely right.
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Obviously, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are rabid, hateful
paranoids -- total bigots and anti-Semites -- for having suggested that
there are powerful domestic political forces in the U.S. which
enforce Israel-centric orthodoxies and make it politically impossible
to question America's blind loyalty to Israel. What irrational lunacy on their part:
Director
of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that
Ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. has requested that his selection to
be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed. Director
Blair accepted Ambassador Freeman's decision with regret.
In
situations like this, it is often impossible to know whether the
appointee really did voluntarily withdraw or whether he was forced out
and is merely being allowed to say that he withdrew. To his credit,
Adm. Blair was in the Senate this morning defending Freeman from the likes of Joe Lieberman,
but everything that is publicly known about Freeman makes it seem
unlikely that he would have voluntarily withdrawn due to the shrieking
criticisms directed at him. If he were forced out -- and there's no
basis for assuming he was until there's evidence for that -- then that
reflects quite badly on the Obama administration's willingness to defy
the Bill Kristols, Marty Peretzes, and National Reviews of the world when it comes to American policy towards the Middle East.
In
the U.S., you can advocate torture, illegal spying, and completely
optional though murderous wars and be appointed to the highest
positions. But you can't, apparently, criticize Israeli actions too
much or question whether America's blind support for Israel should be
re-examined.
UPDATE: Prior to the announcement that the Freeman appointment was terminated, Max Blumenthal documented
that the man leading the anti-Freeman assault was Steve Rosen,
the long-time AIPAC official currently on trial for violations of
the Espionage Act in connection with the transmission of classified
U.S. information intended for Israel. Blumenthal also quotes foreign
policy analyst Chris Nelson as follows:
Freeman is stuck in the latest instance of the deadly
power game long played here on what level of support for controversial
Israeli government policies is a "requirement" for US public office.
If Obama surrenders to the critics and orders [Director of National
Intelligence Dennis Blair] to rescind the Freeman appointment to chair
the NIC, it is difficult to see how he can properly exercise leverage,
when needed, in his conduct of policy in the Middle East. That,
literally, is how the experts see the stakes of the fight now under way.
Blumethal
also suggested that right-wing Israel fanatics in the U.S. are
particularly interested in controlling how intelligence is analyzed due
to their anger over the NIE's 2007 conclusion that Iran had ceased its
pursuit of nuclear weapons.
"It's clear that
Freeman isn't going to be influenced by the lobby," Jim Lobe, the
Washington bureau chief of Inter Press Service, remarked to me. "They
don't like people like that, especially when they're in charge of
products like the NIE. So this is a very important test for them."
Blumenthal
further noted that the leader of the anti-Freeman crusade in the House,
Rep. Mark Kirk, is Congress' top recipient of AIPAC donations.
Identically, Greg Sargent previously reported that, in the Senate,
"concern" over Freeman was expressed by Sen. Chuck Schumer directly to Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Does
anyone doubt that it's far more permissible in American political
culture to criticize actions of the American government than it is the
actions of the Israeli Government? Isn't that rather odd, and quite
self-evidently destructive?
UPDATE II: Andrew Sullivan on "The Freeman Precedent":
Obama may bring change in many areas, but there is no possibility of change on the Israel-Palestine question. Having
the kind of debate in America that they have in Israel, let alone
Europe, on the way ahead in the Middle East is simply forbidden.
Even if a president wants to have differing sources of advice on many
questions, the Congress will prevent any actual, genuinely open debate
on Israel. More to the point: the Obama peeps never defended Freeman.
They were too scared. The fact that Obama blinked means no one else in
Washington will ever dare to go through the hazing that Freeman
endured. And so the chilling effect is as real as it is deliberate.
Actually,
Obama's DNI, Adm. Blair, did defend Freeman, but only today, and it's
true that no other Obama officials did. As usual, it was a bipartisan
onslaught of government officials marching in lockstep loyalty to AIPAC
mandates, with nobody outside of some bloggers and online writers
defending Freeman. Though I was just arguing yesterday that the rules for discussing Israel in the U.S. have become more permissive,
and I still think that, this outcome was probably inevitable given the
refusal of virtually all influential Beltway factions to deviate from
mandated loyalty to the right-wing Israel agenda. That it was
inevitable doesn't make it any less grotesque.
UPDATE III:
Chuck Schumer -- who supported Bush's nomination of Michael Hayden for
CIA Director despite his key role in implementing Bush's illegal
eavesdropping program, and supported Bush's nomination of Michael
Mukasey as Attorney General despite his refusal to say that
waterboarding was torture -- is now boasting about the role he played in blocking Freeman's appointment, all based on Freeman's crimes in speaking ill of the U.S. Israel:
Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position. His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration. I repeatedly urged the White House to reject him, and I am glad they did the right thing.
That's
certainly evidence that (a) Freeman was forced out, and (b) his
so-called "statements against Israel" were the precipitating cause.
UPDATE IV: Lynch mob leader Jonathan Chait of Marty Peretz's magazine, who spent the last week denying that Israel was the driving force behind the attacks on Freeman, brings himself to acknowledge the truth now that Freeman has been vanquished for his blasphemy:
Of course I recognize that the Israel lobby is powerful, and was a key element in the pushback against Freeman, and that it is not always a force for good.
What
I find most mystifying is that Israel-centric fanatics actually think
it is a good thing for Israel to impose these sorts of Israel-based
loyalty tests and orthodoxies on American politics. Polls show that
Americans overwhelmingly want the U.S. Government to be "even-handed" in the Israel/Palestinian dispute and substantial portions of Americans do not favor American policies towards Israel.
Isn't it rather obvious that at some point, there will be a
substantial and understandable backlash as Americans watch people like
Chuck Schumer openly boast that anyone who makes "statements against Israel"
that he deems "over the top" will be disqualified from serving in our
Government, despite a long and distinguished record of public service
and unchallenged expertise?
UPDATE V: Good for Charles Freeman for going down with a fight, issuing an impassioned and highly persuasive statement/warning about what the failure of his appointment, which he says he terminated, means for the U.S.:
I
am not so immodest as to believe that this controversy was about me
rather than issues of public policy. These issues had little to do with
the NIC and were not at the heart of what I hoped to contribute to the
quality of analysis available to President Obama and his
administration. Still, I am saddened by what the controversy and the
manner in which the public vitriol of those who devoted themselves to
sustaining it have revealed about the state of our civil society. It is
apparent that we Americans cannot any longer conduct a serious
public discussion or exercise independent judgment about matters of
great importance to our country as well as to our allies and friends.The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired,
still less to factor in American understanding of trends and events in
the Middle East. The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of
dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective
misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of
falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of
this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a
veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its
views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the
exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our
government other than those that it favors.There
is a special irony in having been accused of improper regard for the
opinions of foreign governments and societies by a group so clearly intent on enforcing adherence to the policies of a foreign government - in this case, the government of Israel.
I believe that the inability of the American public to discuss, or the
government to consider, any option for US policies in the Middle East
opposed by the ruling faction in Israeli politics has allowed that
faction to adopt and sustain policies that ultimately threaten
the existence of the state of Israel. It is not permitted for anyone in
the United States to say so. This is not just a tragedy for Israelis
and their neighbors in the Middle East; it is doing widening damage to
the national security of the United States.The
outrageous agitation that followed the leak of my pending appointment
will be seen by many to raise serious questions about whether the Obama
administration will be able to make its own decisions about the Middle
East and related issues. I regret that my willingness to serve the new
administration has ended by casting doubt on its ability to consider,
let alone decide what policies might best serve the interests
of the United States rather than those of a Lobby intent on enforcing
the will and interests of a foreign government.
Freeman's full statement is here. How
anyone thinks that it is helpful to Israel to impose these blatant
litmus tests of Israel-loyalty on American politics is truly
mystifying. Foreign policy expert Larry Rothkopf says
that the failure of Freeman's appointment "cost the United States
intelligence and policy communities the benefit of a truly unique mind
and set of perspectives" and "have also contributed to what can only be
characterized as a leadership crisis in the U.S. government." Judging
by Freeman's statement today, Rothkopf is absolutely right.
Obviously, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are rabid, hateful
paranoids -- total bigots and anti-Semites -- for having suggested that
there are powerful domestic political forces in the U.S. which
enforce Israel-centric orthodoxies and make it politically impossible
to question America's blind loyalty to Israel. What irrational lunacy on their part:
Director
of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that
Ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. has requested that his selection to
be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed. Director
Blair accepted Ambassador Freeman's decision with regret.
In
situations like this, it is often impossible to know whether the
appointee really did voluntarily withdraw or whether he was forced out
and is merely being allowed to say that he withdrew. To his credit,
Adm. Blair was in the Senate this morning defending Freeman from the likes of Joe Lieberman,
but everything that is publicly known about Freeman makes it seem
unlikely that he would have voluntarily withdrawn due to the shrieking
criticisms directed at him. If he were forced out -- and there's no
basis for assuming he was until there's evidence for that -- then that
reflects quite badly on the Obama administration's willingness to defy
the Bill Kristols, Marty Peretzes, and National Reviews of the world when it comes to American policy towards the Middle East.
In
the U.S., you can advocate torture, illegal spying, and completely
optional though murderous wars and be appointed to the highest
positions. But you can't, apparently, criticize Israeli actions too
much or question whether America's blind support for Israel should be
re-examined.
UPDATE: Prior to the announcement that the Freeman appointment was terminated, Max Blumenthal documented
that the man leading the anti-Freeman assault was Steve Rosen,
the long-time AIPAC official currently on trial for violations of
the Espionage Act in connection with the transmission of classified
U.S. information intended for Israel. Blumenthal also quotes foreign
policy analyst Chris Nelson as follows:
Freeman is stuck in the latest instance of the deadly
power game long played here on what level of support for controversial
Israeli government policies is a "requirement" for US public office.
If Obama surrenders to the critics and orders [Director of National
Intelligence Dennis Blair] to rescind the Freeman appointment to chair
the NIC, it is difficult to see how he can properly exercise leverage,
when needed, in his conduct of policy in the Middle East. That,
literally, is how the experts see the stakes of the fight now under way.
Blumethal
also suggested that right-wing Israel fanatics in the U.S. are
particularly interested in controlling how intelligence is analyzed due
to their anger over the NIE's 2007 conclusion that Iran had ceased its
pursuit of nuclear weapons.
"It's clear that
Freeman isn't going to be influenced by the lobby," Jim Lobe, the
Washington bureau chief of Inter Press Service, remarked to me. "They
don't like people like that, especially when they're in charge of
products like the NIE. So this is a very important test for them."
Blumenthal
further noted that the leader of the anti-Freeman crusade in the House,
Rep. Mark Kirk, is Congress' top recipient of AIPAC donations.
Identically, Greg Sargent previously reported that, in the Senate,
"concern" over Freeman was expressed by Sen. Chuck Schumer directly to Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Does
anyone doubt that it's far more permissible in American political
culture to criticize actions of the American government than it is the
actions of the Israeli Government? Isn't that rather odd, and quite
self-evidently destructive?
UPDATE II: Andrew Sullivan on "The Freeman Precedent":
Obama may bring change in many areas, but there is no possibility of change on the Israel-Palestine question. Having
the kind of debate in America that they have in Israel, let alone
Europe, on the way ahead in the Middle East is simply forbidden.
Even if a president wants to have differing sources of advice on many
questions, the Congress will prevent any actual, genuinely open debate
on Israel. More to the point: the Obama peeps never defended Freeman.
They were too scared. The fact that Obama blinked means no one else in
Washington will ever dare to go through the hazing that Freeman
endured. And so the chilling effect is as real as it is deliberate.
Actually,
Obama's DNI, Adm. Blair, did defend Freeman, but only today, and it's
true that no other Obama officials did. As usual, it was a bipartisan
onslaught of government officials marching in lockstep loyalty to AIPAC
mandates, with nobody outside of some bloggers and online writers
defending Freeman. Though I was just arguing yesterday that the rules for discussing Israel in the U.S. have become more permissive,
and I still think that, this outcome was probably inevitable given the
refusal of virtually all influential Beltway factions to deviate from
mandated loyalty to the right-wing Israel agenda. That it was
inevitable doesn't make it any less grotesque.
UPDATE III:
Chuck Schumer -- who supported Bush's nomination of Michael Hayden for
CIA Director despite his key role in implementing Bush's illegal
eavesdropping program, and supported Bush's nomination of Michael
Mukasey as Attorney General despite his refusal to say that
waterboarding was torture -- is now boasting about the role he played in blocking Freeman's appointment, all based on Freeman's crimes in speaking ill of the U.S. Israel:
Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position. His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration. I repeatedly urged the White House to reject him, and I am glad they did the right thing.
That's
certainly evidence that (a) Freeman was forced out, and (b) his
so-called "statements against Israel" were the precipitating cause.
UPDATE IV: Lynch mob leader Jonathan Chait of Marty Peretz's magazine, who spent the last week denying that Israel was the driving force behind the attacks on Freeman, brings himself to acknowledge the truth now that Freeman has been vanquished for his blasphemy:
Of course I recognize that the Israel lobby is powerful, and was a key element in the pushback against Freeman, and that it is not always a force for good.
What
I find most mystifying is that Israel-centric fanatics actually think
it is a good thing for Israel to impose these sorts of Israel-based
loyalty tests and orthodoxies on American politics. Polls show that
Americans overwhelmingly want the U.S. Government to be "even-handed" in the Israel/Palestinian dispute and substantial portions of Americans do not favor American policies towards Israel.
Isn't it rather obvious that at some point, there will be a
substantial and understandable backlash as Americans watch people like
Chuck Schumer openly boast that anyone who makes "statements against Israel"
that he deems "over the top" will be disqualified from serving in our
Government, despite a long and distinguished record of public service
and unchallenged expertise?
UPDATE V: Good for Charles Freeman for going down with a fight, issuing an impassioned and highly persuasive statement/warning about what the failure of his appointment, which he says he terminated, means for the U.S.:
I
am not so immodest as to believe that this controversy was about me
rather than issues of public policy. These issues had little to do with
the NIC and were not at the heart of what I hoped to contribute to the
quality of analysis available to President Obama and his
administration. Still, I am saddened by what the controversy and the
manner in which the public vitriol of those who devoted themselves to
sustaining it have revealed about the state of our civil society. It is
apparent that we Americans cannot any longer conduct a serious
public discussion or exercise independent judgment about matters of
great importance to our country as well as to our allies and friends.The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired,
still less to factor in American understanding of trends and events in
the Middle East. The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of
dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective
misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of
falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of
this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a
veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its
views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the
exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our
government other than those that it favors.There
is a special irony in having been accused of improper regard for the
opinions of foreign governments and societies by a group so clearly intent on enforcing adherence to the policies of a foreign government - in this case, the government of Israel.
I believe that the inability of the American public to discuss, or the
government to consider, any option for US policies in the Middle East
opposed by the ruling faction in Israeli politics has allowed that
faction to adopt and sustain policies that ultimately threaten
the existence of the state of Israel. It is not permitted for anyone in
the United States to say so. This is not just a tragedy for Israelis
and their neighbors in the Middle East; it is doing widening damage to
the national security of the United States.The
outrageous agitation that followed the leak of my pending appointment
will be seen by many to raise serious questions about whether the Obama
administration will be able to make its own decisions about the Middle
East and related issues. I regret that my willingness to serve the new
administration has ended by casting doubt on its ability to consider,
let alone decide what policies might best serve the interests
of the United States rather than those of a Lobby intent on enforcing
the will and interests of a foreign government.
Freeman's full statement is here. How
anyone thinks that it is helpful to Israel to impose these blatant
litmus tests of Israel-loyalty on American politics is truly
mystifying. Foreign policy expert Larry Rothkopf says
that the failure of Freeman's appointment "cost the United States
intelligence and policy communities the benefit of a truly unique mind
and set of perspectives" and "have also contributed to what can only be
characterized as a leadership crisis in the U.S. government." Judging
by Freeman's statement today, Rothkopf is absolutely right.
"Zeldin's assertion that the EPA shouldn't address greenhouse gas emissions is like a fire chief claiming that they shouldn't fight fires," said one critic. "It is as malicious as it is absurd."
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration faced an onslaught of criticism on Tuesday for starting the process of repealing the 2009 legal opinion that greenhouse gases endanger public health and the welfare of the American people—which has enabled federal regulations aimed at the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency over the past 15 years.
Confirming reports from last week, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin unveiled the rule to rescind the 2009 "endangerment finding" at a truck dealership in Indiana. According to The New York Times, he said that "the proposal would, if finalized, amount to the largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States."
If the administration succeeds in repealing the legal finding, the EPA would lack authority under the Clean Air Act to impose standards for greenhouse gas emissions—meaning the move would kill vehicle regulations. As with the reporting last week, the formal announcement was sharply condemned by climate and health advocates and experts.
"Greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and are the root cause of the climate crisis," said Deanna Noël with Public Citizen's Climate Program, ripping the administration's effort as "grossly misguided and exceptionally dangerous."
"This isn't just a denial of science and reality—it's a betrayal of public trust and yet another signal that this administration is working for corporate interests, and no one else."
"Stripping the EPA of its ability to regulate greenhouse gases is like throwing away the fire extinguisher while the house is already burning," she warned. "The administration is shamelessly handing Big Oil a hall pass to pollute unchecked and dodge accountability, leaving working families to bear the costs through worsening health outcomes, rising energy bills, more climate-fueled extreme weather, and an increasingly unstable future. This isn't just a denial of science and reality—it's a betrayal of public trust and yet another signal that this administration is working for corporate interests, and no one else."
Noël was far from alone in accusing the administration's leaders of serving the polluters who helped Trump return to power.
"Zeldin and Trump are concerned only with maximizing short-term profits for polluting corporations and the CEOs funneling millions of dollars to their campaign coffers," said Jim Walsh, policy director at Food & Water Watch. "Zeldin's assertion that the EPA shouldn't address greenhouse gas emissions is like a fire chief claiming that they shouldn't fight fires. It is as malicious as it is absurd."
Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Safe Climate Transport Campaign, similarly said that the proposal is "purely a political bow to the oil industry" and "Trump is putting fealty to Big Oil over sound science and people's health."
Earthworks policy director Lauren Pagel also called the rule "a perverse gift to the fossil fuel industry that rejects yearslong efforts by the agency, scientists, NGOs, frontline communities, and industry to protect public health and our environment."
"Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin are playing with fire—and with floods and droughts and public health risks, too," she stressed, as about 168 million Americans on Tuesday faced advisories for extreme heat made more likely by the climate crisis.
🚨 The Trump administration just took its most extreme step yet in rolling back climate protections.
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— Sierra Club (@sierraclub.org) July 29, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents over 8,000 EPA workers nationwide, said that the repeal plan "is reckless and will have far-reaching, disastrous consequences for the USA."
"EPA career professionals have worked for decades on the development of the science and policy of greenhouse gases to protect the American public," he continued, "and this policy decision completely disregards all of their work in service to the public."
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) highlighted that Chris Wright, head of the Department of Energy, joined Zeldin at the Tuesday press conference and "announced a DOE 'climate science study' alongside remarks that were rife with climate denial talking points and disinformation."
UCS president Gretchen Goldman said that "it's abundantly clear what's going on here. The Trump administration refuses to acknowledge robust climate science and is using the kitchen sink approach: making every specious argument it can to avoid complying with the law."
"But getting around the Clean Air Act won't be easy," she added. "The science establishing climate harms to human health was unequivocally clear back in 2009, and more than 15 years later, the evidence has only accumulated."
Today, Zeldin’s EPA plans to release a proposal to revoke the Endangerment Finding, which is the legal & scientific foundation of EPA’s responsibility to limit climate-heating greenhouse gas pollution from major sources.
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— Moms Clean Air Force (@momscleanairforce.org) July 29, 2025 at 12:58 PM
David Bookbinder, director of law and policy at the Environmental Integrity Project, was a lead attorney in the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case Massachusetts vs. EPA, which affirmed the agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and ultimately led to the endangerment finding two years later.
Bookbinder said Tuesday that "because this approach has already been rejected by the courts—and doubtless will be again—this baseless effort to pretend that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that cause climate change are not harmful pollutants is nothing more than a transparent attempt to delay and derail our efforts to control greenhouse pollution at the worst possible time, when deadly floods and heat waves are killing more people every day."
In a statement from the Environmental Protection Network, which is made up of ex-EPA staff, Joseph Goffman, former assistant administrator of the agency's Office of Air and Radiation, also cited the 2007 ruling.
"This decision is both legally indefensible and morally bankrupt," Goffman said of the Tuesday proposal. "The Supreme Court made clear that EPA cannot ignore science or evade its responsibilities under the Clean Air Act. By walking away from the endangerment finding, EPA has not only broken with precedent; it has broken with reality."
Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, responded to the EPA proposal with defiance, declaring that "Donald Trump and his Big Oil donors are lighting the world on fire and fueling their private jets with young people's lives. We refuse to be sacrifices for their greed. We're coming for them, and we're not backing down."
Israel has already summarily rejected the U.K. leader's ultimatum to take "substantive" steps to end the war on Gaza by September, agree to a two-state solution, and reject West Bank annexation.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer was accused of "political grandstanding" after he said Tuesday that his country would recognize Palestinian statehood if Israel did not take ambiguously defined steps to end its war on Gaza—conditions that were promptly dismissed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Today, as part of this process towards peace, I can confirm the U.K. will recognize the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a cease-fire, and commit to a long-term sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution," Starmer said during a press conference.
"This includes allowing the U.N. to restart the supply of aid and making clear that there will be no annexations in the West Bank," the prime minister continued, adding that "the terrorists of Hamas... must immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a cease-fire, disarm, and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza."
Member of Scottish Parliament Scott Greer (Scottish Greens-West Scotland) responded to Tuesday's announcement on social media, saying, "Starmer wouldn't threaten to withdraw U.K. recognition of Israel, but he's made recognition of Palestinian statehood conditional on the actions of their genocidal oppressor?"
"Another profoundly unjust act from a Labour government thoroughly complicit in Israel's crimes," Greer added.
British attorney and activist Shola Mos-Shogbamimu asserted that "Keir Starmer knows his time is up and pivots to save his career but it's too late."
"By placing a condition on recognizing Palestine this declaration is performative and disingenuous because before September he can claim Israel has substantively complied with the condition," she added.
Leftist politician and Accountability Archive co-founder Philip Proudfoot argued on social media that "decent" Members of Parliament "need to table a no-confidence motion in Starmer now."
"He has just used the recognition of Palestine as a bargaining chip in exchange for Israel following its BASIC LEGAL OBLIGATIONS," he added. "This is one of the lowest political acts in living memory."
Media critic Sana Saeed said on social media, "Using Palestinian life and future as a bargaining chip and threat to Israel—not a surprise from kid starver Keir Starmer."
Journalist Sangita Myska argued that "rather than threatening the gesture politics of recognizing a Palestinian state (that may never happen)," Starmer should expel Israel's ambassador to the U.K., impose "full trade sanctions" and a "full arms embargo," and end alleged Royal Air Force surveillance flights over Gaza.
Political analyst Bushra Shaikh accused Starmer of "political grandstanding" and "speaking from both sides of his mouth."
Starmer's announcement followed a Monday meeting in Turnberry, Scotland with U.S. President Donald Trump, who signaled that he would not object to U.K. recognition of Palestine.
However, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce called Starmer's announcement "a slap in the face for the victims of October 7," a reference to the Hamas-led attack of 2023.
While the United States remains Israel's staunchest supporter and enabler—providing billions of dollars in annual armed aid and diplomatic cover—Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee have all expressed concerns over mounting starvation deaths in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the U.N.-affiliated Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned that a "worst-case" famine scenario is developing in Gaza, where health officials say at least 147 Palestinians, including at least 88 children, have died from malnutrition since Israel launched its obliteration and siege of the enclave following the October 2023 attack.
Israel—which imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza following that attack—has severely limited the amount of humanitarian aid that can enter the strip. According to U.N. officials, Israel Defense Forces troops have killed more than 1,000 aid-seeking civilians at distribution points run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. IDF troops have said they were ordered to shoot live bullets and artillery shells at aid seekers.
Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza including murder and weaponized starvation—responded to the U.K. prime minister's ultimatum in a social media post stating, "Starmer rewards Hamas' monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims."
"A jihadist state on Israel's border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW," Netanyahu said. "Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen."
The U.K. played a critical role in the foundation of the modern state of Israel, allowing Jewish colonization of what was then the British Mandate of Palestine under condition that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine," who made up more than 90% of the population.
Seeing that Jewish immigrants returning to their ancestral homeland were usurping the indigenous Arabs of Palestine, the British subsequently prohibited further Zionist colonization. This sparked a nearly decadelong wave of terrorism and other attacks against the British occupiers that ultimately resulted in the U.K. abandoning Palestine and the establishment of Israel under the authority of the United Nations—an outcome achieved by the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Palestinian Arabs.
On the topic of annexing the West Bank, earlier this month, all 15 Israeli government ministers representing Netanyahu's Likud party recommended the move, citing support from Trump. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) found last year that Israel's occupation of Palestine, including the West Bank and Gaza, is an illegal form of apartheid.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would announce its formal recognition of Palestinian statehood during September's U.N. General Assembly in New York. France is set to become the first Group of Seven nation to recognize Palestine, which is currently officially acknowledged by approximately 150 of the 193 U.N. member states.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz subsequently threatened "severe consequences" for nations that recognize Palestine.
Starmer's announcement came on the same day that the Gaza Health Ministry said that the death toll from Israel's 662-day assault and siege on Gaza—which is the subject of a South Africa-led genocide case at the ICJ—topped 60,000. However, multiple peer-reviewed studies in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet have concluded that Gaza officials' casualty tallies are likely significant undercounts.
"Eric Adams is a complete non-factor in this race," remarked a founding partner of pollster Zenith Research.
A new poll of the New York City mayoral race found that Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is very well positioned to win later this year and that former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is only competitive in the race if every other Mamdani opponent drops out.
The survey, which was conducted by polling firm Zenith Research, showed Mamdani holding what Zenith founding partner Adam Carlson described on X as a "commanding" lead of 28 points among likely voters in a five-way race featuring Cuomo, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and independent candidate Jim Walden. Even in other scenarios where other candidates drop out of the race, Mamdani would still garner more than 50% of likely votes in each instance.
However, Mamdani's lead becomes much smaller when the poll is expanded to all registered voters, among whom he only holds a three-point advantage over Cuomo in a head-to-head matchup. This suggests that Cuomo has room to grow as long as he can convince Adams, Sliwa, and Walden to exit the race.
Even so, commented Carlson, Cuomo faces significant headwinds that could block his path to victory even if he succeeds somehow in making it a one-on-one race.
"Another thing that’s extremely tough for Cuomo is that 60% of likely voters (as well as 52% of registered voters) would not even consider voting for him," he explained. "Only 32% say they wouldn't consider voting for Mamdani. Cuomo will need to go scorched earth to bring that number up."
New Yorkers who oppose Mamdani will have to place their hopes in the disgraced former governor, given the dismal standing held by incumbent Adams.
"Eric Adams is a complete non-factor in this race," remarked Carlson. "He polls at 7% in the five-way race, 14% if Cuomo drops out, and 32% if Cuomo and Sliwa drop out. More than half of [likely voters] strongly disapprove of his performance and have a very unfavorable view of him. 68% won't consider voting for him."
The poll also found Mamdani with an overall lead among Jewish voters despite efforts by opponents to paint him as antisemitic given his opposition to Israel's war in Gaza and his past reluctance to criticize the slogan "globalize the intifada," which he told The Bulwark he viewed as "a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights." New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a progressive Jewish ally of Mamdani's who has endorsed his mayoral bid, acknowledged before the election that some Jewish people view the phrase as a threat of violence.
Among likely Jewish voters, Mamdani leads Cuomo by 17 points in a five-way race. Although Cuomo holds a double-digit lead over Mamdani among likely Jewish voters over the age of 45, Mamdani dominates among young Jewish voters by pulling in more than two-thirds of likely Jewish voters between the ages of 18 and 44.