The Skeletons in Dennis Blair's Closet - (Obama's Dir. of Nat. Intelligence)

[balantz]

http://www.counterpunch.org/simpson12262008.html

The Skeletons in Dennis Blair's Closet
By BRADLEY SIMPSON

The presumed appointment by President-elect Barack Obama of retired Admiral Dennis C. Blair as his new Director of National Intelligence is being greeted with cheers by the national media, who hail his experience, bureaucratic infighting skills and comparatively moderate views on national security issues. The New York Times, in a recent profile, seemed much impressed by the fact that the 34-year Navy veteran once water skied behind an aircraft carrier, in addition to his stints with the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Institute for Defense Analysis (from which he resigned in 2006 over conflict of interest charges involving the F-22 raptor).

But human rights supporters are right to be worried that Dennis Blair will hardly lead the charge for reform in the nation’s intelligence community after the Bush Administration’s embrace of torture, rendition and other crimes. For in the period leading up to and following East Timor’s August 1999 referendum on independence from Indonesia Blair, from his perch as US Commander in Chief of the Pacific (CINCPAC) from February 1999 to May 2000, ran interference for the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) as they and their militia proxies committed crimes against humanity on an awesome scale.

Following the ouster of long-time dictator Suharto in 1998, Indonesian president B.J. Habibie signaled that Indonesia would be willing to allow East Timor an up or down referendum on independence following 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation. The Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), hoping to sway the vote in Jakarta’s favor, launched a campaign of terror and intimidation led by the Army, Police and local militia proxies in which they killed hundreds of people displaced tens of thousands, most infamously on April 6, 1999, when militia forces massacred 57 Timorese in a church at Liquica on the outskirts of the capitol Dili.

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Immediately after the August 30, 1999 referendum, in which nearly 80% of Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia, TNI forces and their militia proxies launched a murderous scorched earth campaign, killing nearly 1,500 Timorese, forcing a third of the population from their homes and destroying most of the territory’s infrastructure. Following a global outcry and enormous pressure from Congress and grassroots activists, President Clinton finally severed military ties on September 8, with Dennis Blair personally conveying news of the cutoff to General Wiranto.

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Blair’s apologetics for murder and torture by the Indonesian armed forces in East Timor, and his opposition to trials, international or otherwise, for the high level perpetrators of mass violence, offers a sobering indication of the positions he is likely to take as Director of National Intelligence. President-elect Obama’s choice suggests that he will resist - as Blair almost certainly will - demands for the prosecution of high-ranking Bush Administration officials, much less lower level employees in the Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency, for torture, rendition and other crimes carried out in the name of the so-called War on Terror.

[TheWraith]

1. When did we start treating our own side as the enemy?

I see a lot of people on DU reacting the same way to Obama's appointments as they did to Bush's... including journalistically-dubious outfits like Counterpunch playing "six degrees of anything we can complain about."

[balantz]

2. There are some of us who don't appreciate having this type of person selected for "our side":

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x257459

[balantz]

3. Kick

[bemildred]

4. We all have a few skeletons in our closet. I know I do.

Let's see what they do.

[balantz]

5. I'm sure we will find out. Did you look into the details of his skeletons? n/t

[bemildred]

6. I am well acquainted with the facts of US foreign policy.

It seems unlikely to me that anyone of much experience at the top would be untainted. I'm not interested in defending this guy in particular or the US government in general. I just think that little purpose is served by attacking Obama before he takes office and his administration does something. The US government is extremely resistant to outside attack, you need insiders to instigate real reform. Once he starts to do stuff, I will be more than happy to chime in.