Richard Perle
Richard Norman Perle (born
September 16,
1941) is an
American neoconservative political advisor who served the
Reagan administration as an assistant
Secretary of Defense and served on the
Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from
1987 to
2004. He was Chairman of the Board from 2001 to 2003 under the
Bush administration.
Perle, was a strong advocate of the
2003 invasion of Iraq and predicted that
Saddam Hussein's forces could be defeated in no more than "months".
Education and early career
\nPerle earned a B.A from the University of Southern California in 1964 and an M.A in political science from Princeton University in 1967.
From 1969 to 1980, he worked as a staffer for Democratic Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington. From 1981 to 1987, Perle was Assistant Secretary of Defense for international security policy in the Reagan administration. He received criticism for accepting a major payment from an Israeli arms manufacturer.
Robert Burns of AP writes, "Perle was so strongly opposed to nuclear arms control agreements with the former Soviet Union during his days in the Reagan administration that he became known as 'the Prince of Darkness.'" [1]Perle contends that his views and opposition to arms control under the Carter administration had to do with his view that the US was giving up too much at the negotiation table and not receiving nearly enough concessions with the Soviets. Perle called the arms talks under negotiation in the late 1970's "the rawest deal of the century".
Perle's objection to the arms talks between the Carter administration and the Soviet Union revolved primarily around Carter’s agreeing to halt all cruise missile development in exchange for what hawks saw as few Soviet concessions. The Soviets had a wide lead in cruise missile development in the late 1970’s and most naval experts saw this advantage as being capable of crippling the US Navy in the event of a conflict between the two superpower. Perle is widely credited for spearheading opposition to the treaty, which was never ratified by the Senate.
Current activities
\nPerle is currently a resident fellow at the conservative think-tank American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. His cited research interests include defense, national security and the Middle East.
In addition, Perle has many business interests. Among other engagements, he is Chairman and chief executive officer of Hollinger Digital, Inc, a partner of Trireme and a director of the Jerusalem Post.
In July 2001 George W. Bush appointed Perle chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, which advises the Department of Defense. On March 9 2003, Seymour Hersh published an article in The New Yorker titled Lunch with the Chairman, accusing Perle of a conflict of interest, claiming Perle stood to profit financially by influencing government policy. Hersh's article alleged that Perle had business dealings with Saudi investors and linked him to the intelligence-related computer firm Trireme Partners LLP, which stood to profit from the war in Iraq.
The same day the New Yorker article was published, Perle, in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, responded that "Hersh is the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist, frankly." [1]. Perle later threatened to bring a libel suit against Hersh for the allegations raised in his article but failed to do so. On March 27, 2003, Richard Perle resigned as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, though he still remained a member of the board.
The Department of Defense's inspector general, who commenced an investigation after members of Congress read The New Yorker piece and other press accounts and wanted to know if Perle had violated federal conflict-of-interest provisions by improperly mixing his government duties with his business interests. The inspector general ruled that federal conflict of interest rules didn't apply to Perle because the provisions don't kick in unless an employee works 60 days in a year, and Perle only worked eight days total in a three year time span for Trireme Partners LLP.
On March 28, 2003, Judicial Watch filed a complaint to the Office of Government Ethics, the Office of the Defense Department Inspector General, the Office of the Homeland Security Inspector General, United States Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller in the matter of Former Defense Policy Board Chairman Richard N. Perle, Former President William Jefferson Clinton, Former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, Current Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe and Global Crossing.
War with Iraq
\nPerle is said to be the person behind the US policy on Iraq (see also: U.S. plan to invade Iraq). He believed that Saddam Hussein's control of the government was weak, and that an invasion of Iraq would remove Saddam from power within weeks.
In an interview for "Saddam's Ultimate Solution", the July 11, 2002 episode of the PBS series Wide Angle, he said:\n:Saddam is much weaker than we think he is. He's weaker militarily. We know he's got about a third of what he had in 1991. But it's a house of cards. He rules by fear because he knows there is no underlying support. Support for Saddam, including within his military organization, will collapse at the first whiff of gunpowder. Now, it isn't going to be over in 24 hours, but it isn't going to be months either.
Perle advocated invading Iraq with only 40,000 troops, and complained about the calls by then Gen. Eric Shinseki to use 250,000 troops. [1]
When discussing his new book "Battle Ready" co-authored with retired general Anthony Zinni, author Tom Clancy stated that he almost came to blows with Perle. According to Clancy:
- "He was saying how (Secretary of State) Colin Powell was being a wuss because he was overly concerned with the lives of the troops," Clancy said. "And I said, 'Look ..., he's supposed to think that way!' And Perle didn't agree with me on that. People like that worry me." [1]
Other countries
\nPerle advocates first-strike bombing of North Korean nuclear facilities. [1] He has also advocated preemptive attacks on Syria, Iran, Libya, and a number of other countries. Even after Iran has made clear that an attack by the United States would be dealt with in a worldwide war against both America and American interests he works towards war with Iran. Perle is willing to expand the war in the Persian Gulf to Syria and Iran.
Other
\nPerle is co-founder of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a spin-off from the American Enterprise Institute. He is known to have a negative opinion of the
United Nations and multi-lateralism when against the interests of the US, and pushing for world-wide superiority of the
USA.
Perle is author of many articles and three books:\n*
Hard Line (1992) (ISBN 0394565525)\n*
Reshaping Western Security (ed.) (1991). \n*
An End to Evil: how to win the war on terror (w/
David Frum, 2003) ISBN 1400061946 \nIn
1992 he produced the PBS feature
The Gulf Crisis: The Road to War.
Perle has long been a target of criticism from the left, who view him as being a key force at pushing US foreign policy into a militaristic angle.
External links
\n* Website about Richard Perle at the AEI\n*
Richard Perle's Conflict, Editorial/Op-Ed, The New York Times, March 24, 2003\n*
Thank God for the death of the UN, Comment by Richard Perle, The Guardian, March 21, 2003\n*
Lunch with the Chairman, an article by Seymour Hersh for the New Yorker, Mar. 17 2003\n*
Saddam's Ultimate Solution: Host Transcript,
Wide Angle, July 11, 2002 - interview with Richard Perle\n*
http://judicialwatch.org/cases/104/perle.htm\n*
HREF="http://www.counterpunch.org/green02282004.html" class="external">Counterpunch: Serving Two Flags\n*Disinfopedia's Wiki on Richard Perle\n* Legendary Ohio State University Debate - Noam Chomsky vs. Richard Perle, 1988; MP3
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Perle, Richard