Did Obama Aide Admiral Dennis Blair Lie to Congress?

[EFerrari]

Did Obama Aide Admiral Dennis Blair Lie to Congress?

President-elect Obama is expected to name his intelligence team today: Leon Panetta for the CIA, John Brennan as a key White House adviser, and Admiral Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence. Blair, as Allan Nairn reported on Democracy Now!, was implicated in backing the perpetrators of church massacres in East Timor in 1999. Award-winning investigative reporter Allan Nairn reveals new information that indicates he may have lied to Congress.

President-elect Obama is expected to name his intelligence team today, Leon Panetta for the CIA, John Brennan as a key White House adviser, and Admiral Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence. Is this change? John Brennan was dropped as a candidate for CIA due to accusations of support for torture and extraordinary rendition.

Obama is now selecting Brennan for a position not requiring congressional confirmation. Admiral Blair, as Allan Nairn reported on Democracy Now on Tuesday and Wednesday, was implicated in backing the perpetrators of church massacres in East Timor in 1999. Award-winning investigative reporter Allan Nairn joins us on the phone now with more information on potential new problems for Blair.

Allan Nairn, Award-winning journalist who has reported from Indonesia for years. In 1999, he broke the story on Dennis Blair’s secret meeting with Indonesian generals to affirm US support for their violent crackdown on East Timorese.

(Video, audio at link, no transcript yet)

My note: The incident Allan refers to is Blair's March 3 1999 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee where Blair misrepresented the actions of the Indonesian military in order that Congress restore military aid to the Indonesian government. Blair represented that abuses committed by the Indonesian military were by individuals and not the policy of its US trained military leadership -- much as Rumsfeld tried to represent Abu Graib to Congress.

Blair was in general supportive of Gen. Wiranto before, during and after the Wiranto led massacre of the East Timorese.