More interesting information on the reported appointee to chair the National Intelligence Council — former ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas W. Freeman Jr. Steve Rosen, former top AIPAC staffer and defendant in the upcoming AIPAC trial, finds an interview Freeman, current president of the Middle East Policy Council, gave to the Saudi-US Relations Information Service in 2006.
Chas Freeman, reportedly nominated to head the National Intelligence Council preparing finished National Intelligence Estimates for President Obama, acknowledged in 2006 that the $1 million donation to his Middle East Policy Council that he received from "the generosity of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia" was for public relations in the United States. He said in an interview with the Saudi-U.S. Relations Information Service, "Frankly, I’m delighted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has, after a long delay, begun to make serious public relations efforts. …I am hopeful that we can put this effort on a sustainable long-term basis."
Here’s the of the portion of the interview, in full, Rosen is citing:
These are obviously very difficult times for any organization attempting to promote better understanding and stronger ties between the United States and the Arab world. …Financial support has been very negatively affected both by … the financial controls and other restrictions on international financial transactions — inhibiting and tending to reduce the willingness to give as well…About a year and a half ago the board of MEPC …concluded that we probably couldn’t continue our work and we couldn’t survive on the basis of a continuing flow of small and medium size donations. The only way we could ensure our survival and the continuation of our work over the long run was through the establishment of an endowment. Thanks to the generosity of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia we have managed to accumulate an endowment….I periodically visit the region — to the Kingdom and to other countries in the Gulf. I meet mostly with individuals and companies who are interested in seeing better relations between the US and the Arab world…Frankly, I’m delighted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has, after a long delay, begun to make serious public relations efforts. …I am hopeful that we can put this effort on a sustainable long-term basis. …If the Middle East Policy Council were to disappear it would not be easily replaced.
Elsewhere in the interview, Freeman also brags about the willingness of MEPC’s scholarly journal, Middle East Policy, to present controversial articles:
Our Fall [2006] issue will contain a revised, updated, and unabridged version of the controversial paper by Professors John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt on "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy." No one else in the United States has dared to publish this article, given the political penalties that the Lobby imposes on those who criticize it. So we continue to do important things that are not done by anybody else, which I think fill some gaps. …
We also have an interview with Azzam Tamimi of Hamas on the subject of Hamas in power, which is not available anywhere else. We cover subjects that, unfortunately, others shrink from addressing.
