Barack Obama and the Hiss Denier<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
By Cliff Kincaid
 
"The United Nations was, in major part, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />America's creation," declared Susan Rice, President-elect Obama's nominee as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations at a news conference on Monday. This is true if you consider a communist and Soviet agent, U.N. founder Alger Hiss, to be truly "American." But that is quite a stretch. This kind of gaffe is never highlighted by our media because it is something that is repeated often by those attempting to justify continued U.S. participation in the corrupt United Nations.
 
Needless to say, Rice never mentioned that the U.N. is the "House that Hiss built." But that is what it was, and what it remains. 
 
What's more, it is still infested with anti-American intelligence agents and foreign spies. Rice should read Comrade J, based on interviews with Sergei Tretyakov, the former Russian spymaster based at the U.N.  The book describes the United Nations as a major base of espionage operations for Russia in the U.S. 
 
Rice may be reluctant to read the book because of the fact that her Brookings Institution colleague, Strobe Talbott, is named in it as having been "a special unofficial contact" of the Russian intelligence agency, the SVR, when he was Deputy Secretary of State in the Clinton Administration. Talbott had been in charge of Russian affairs, and Rice had been Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. They worked closely together, as Talbott concedes. 
 
"Mr. President-elect," Susan Rice said, directing her comments on Monday to the one who nominated her, "I share your commitment to rededicate ourselves to the organization and its mission. If confirmed as U.N. ambassador, I will work constructively within the organization to help strengthen its capacities and achieve needed reforms."
 
The term "reforms" is brought up every time the U.N. is trying to shake down more money from Uncle Sam. Don't expect any follow-up from the media. They are almost as much in love with the U.N. as they are with Obama. They would love to see the world body expand its power and authority at the expense of the U.S. 
 
At the time he founded the U.N.¯and Hiss was the first acting secretary-general of the organization¯he was a State Department official. He was convicted of perjury for denying that he was a Soviet spy. Ex-communist Whittaker Chambers had identified Hiss as a member of a communist spy ring and had evidence to prove it.
 
What's fascinating about Obama's foreign policy team so far is the absence of Anthony Lake, described by the Financial Times as one of Obama's "intimates." Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times reports that "Tony Lake is relatively old¯and has apparently said he doesn't want a job."
 
It may just be possible that he doesn't want a job because he would become a laughingstock if he sought one and was nominated. Lake lost a job in the old Clinton Administration in part because he went on NBC's "Meet the Press" and expressed doubt as to whether Alger Hiss was really guilty.
 
On November 7, Helene Cooper of the New York Times reported that Lake, co-leader of Obama's foreign policy team (along with Susan Rice) as he campaigned for president, was still a possibility as CIA director. Cooper's allusion to Lake's "baggage," regarding his failed nomination in 1997 to become CIA director, failed to mention his controversial comments on Alger Hiss.
 
But a November 28 story by Cooper said that Lake, as well as Samantha Power, "a Harvard scholar and author who left the campaign after she was quoted as making remarks critical of Mrs. Clinton, appear unlikely to end up with top jobs." She didn't explain why Lake had been dropped from consideration.
 
Last year, when Lake's role as a fundraiser for Obama came to our attention, we urged AIM members to send him a postcard saying:Professor Anthony Lake School of Foreign Service Georgetown University
Dear Professor: It has been reported that you are now backing and raising money for Senator Barack Obama for president. Since that means you have an influence of some kind on his thinking, especially in foreign affairs, we would like to know the following: (1) Do you still doubt that Alger Hiss was a Soviet spy? (2) What Is Senator Obama's position on the question of Hiss's guilt? Thank you for your attention to these matters. We are still waiting for answers to these questions.
 
On November 5, Timothy Noah of Slate wrote an article, "The Uncabinet: A guide to key appointments Obama should resist," advising Obama against picking Lake and others.
 
Reacting to the possibility that Lake could be appointed as Secretary of State, Noah warned Obama¯"do not appoint Anthony Lake. He made himself unconfirmable for Central Intelligence Agency director back in 1996 in part by saying on TV that he wasn't sure Alger Hiss was guilty. Heads up: Alger Hiss was guilty. If you think Hiss wasn't guilty and you want to get confirmed by the Senate, be my guest. But don't shoot your mouth off about it, because if you do, you'll be easy prey for the GOP. Also, I have to say that anyone who performs the mental calisthenics necessary to believe Alger Hiss may have been innocent runs a substantial risk that he won't have enough additional mental energy left to run the State Department."
 
These were funny comments but they beg the question of why Obama felt comfortable around Lake in the first place.
 
During the campaign Obama laughed at the charge from the John McCain campaign that he was a socialist. "By the end of the week," Obama joked, "he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in Kindergarten."
 
Obama already has special access to America's national security secrets. Has he shared any of them with his "intimate" friend Anthony Lake?
            Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of Accuracy in Media, and can be contacted at cliff.kincaid@aim.org.