Freeman Out

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4:52 PM, Mar 10, 2009 • By MICHAEL GOLDFARB

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The statement from the DNI:

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.

The Obama administration has done the right thing. More to say on this later, but what I'm most eager to see in the next 24 hours is the story from the New York Times explaining that Chas Freeman has been forced to withdraw his nomination as a result of a controversy they never even covered. Maybe Chas was doing some consulting work for Carlos Slim?

Update: Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has this statement on Freeman's withdrawal:

"Mr. Freeman's choice is the right one for our nation. I hope the Administration's next pick will have a good and unbiased background in intelligence analysis."