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Exclusive: Obama Intel Chief Works for Chinese Government, Says Aaron Klein of World Net Daily

Posted on: Friday, 27 February 2009, 07:51 CST

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Obama administration's top intelligence chief sits on the board of a major oil company owned by the Chinese government that is widely seen as conducting business deals meant to expand China's influence worldwide, World Net Daily has learned.

Charles "Chas" Freeman, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War, was confirmed to head the U.S. National Intelligence Council, a crucial component of the U.S. intelligence apparatus which serves as the center for midterm and long-term strategic thinking within the American intelligence community. It provides intelligence briefs for Obama and key U.S. agencies and produces reports that help determine American policy on crucial issues, such as Iran's nuclear program.

Freeman is on the board of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC, which in 2005 tried to purchase the ninth largest oil firm in the U.S. while he was a member.

The Chinese oil firm, owned by the People's Republic of China, also has been accused of multiple human rights violations.

In 2005, CNOOC made a staggering, all-cash $18.5 billion offer to buy the American oil company Unocal, topping an earlier bid by ChevronTexaco. Immediately, lawmakers and many policy experts, including a broad array of Democrats and Republicans in Congress, mounted a major opposition campaign to the bid.

There was concern the deal would give China a major foothold in the U.S. economy and would also boost Chinese influence and political clout worldwide, particularly in Asia, where Unocal maintained major holdings in Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Scores of media reports in major news outlets quoted congressmen worrying the CNOOC deal would give the Chinese an energy bargaining chip during U.S. negotiations seeking a tougher line against North Korea's nuclear program.

Arakan Oil Watch, a human rights organization, issued a report accusing CNOOC last October of human rights abuses and land theft in an oil prospecting venture in Burma. The accusations came less than a month after the U.S.-based EarthRights International expressed concern about China's increasing grip on Burma's natural resources, including through CNOOC's ventures.

The accusations against CNOOC, with Freeman on its board, ranged from land seizure to wanton pollution of rice fields and water systems with oil waste.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90180

Media contact: M. Sliwa Public Relations, 973-272-2861, media@msliwa.com

SOURCE World Net Daily

Source: PR Newswire

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