Richard N. Perle

<div style="float:right;width:149px;margin:0 0 1em 1em"> </div> Long-time Washington cold warrior Richard N. Perle is a man of many hats: Pentagon policy adviser (resigned February 2004), former Likud policy adviser, media manager, international investor, op-ed writer, talk show guest, think tank expert, and ardent supporter of the war in Iraq. Known in Washington circles as "The Prince of Darkness," Perle is associated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Project for the New American Century, both of which have been prominent behind-the-scenes architects of the Bush administration's foreign policy, in particular its push for war with Iraq. He is closely allied with Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Dundes Wolfowitz, another Iraq hawk. Perle is also a vocal supporter of Israel and a critic of Saudi Arabia. Perle is on the Advisory Board of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), and is a former chairman of the Defense Policy Board, a Defense Department advisory group composed primarily of former government officials, retired military officers, and academics.

Born in New York City, Perle graduated from the University of Southern California in 1964 and worked in a variety of Senate staff jobs, including the office of late Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson from 1969 to 1980, when he went to work for a private military-consulting firm. The following year he was appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense in the presidential administration of Ronald Reagan. During the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, Perle served as a foreign policy advisor.

A veteran Washington insider, Perle has on occasion been accused of being an Israeli agent of influence. It has been reported that while he was working for Jackson, an "FBI summary of a 1970 wiretap recorded Perle discussing classified information with someone in the Israeli embassy." In 1983, after stepping into a Pentagon job in the Reagan administration, Perle came under fire for accepting a $50,000 payment from an Israeli arms manufacturer. He explained that the payment was for work done as a Washington lobbyist before entering government. According to a Dec. 24, 1985, Associated Press report, Perle, still a Reagan Defense Department official, was challenged by Jeremiah Denton, then a Republican senator from Alabama, on Perle's choice of Stephen D. Bryen as a Pentagon aide. In the email copy of Lee Byrd's report provided by John Sugg (JohnSugg@aol.com), Denton charged that Bryen, moving from a job with the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, had been forced to resign his Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff job after being investigated for trying to gain information for the Israeli government. Federal prosecutors dropped the case, with Perle defending Bryen's integrity, the AP report says.

In February 2002, the dispute spilled over into the <i>Washington Post</i>'s editorial pages, with one writer blasting the 'toxic' charge that Israel was unduly influencing President Bush's Iraq policy. A Post editorial responded by pointing out that Perle, who was chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, and two other Bush policy men, Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy, and David Wurmser, a State Department special assistant, had in 1996 participated in Likud policy deliberations. Under the auspices of the Institute for Advanced Strategic & Political Studies, a Likud-leaning Israeli think tank, the three helped come up with a paper, A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm, which declared that "removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq" was an "important Israeli strategic objective in its own right as a means of foiling Syria's regional ambitions." NB: Clean Break spells out the reconfiguration of the Middle East into an Israeli sphere of influence, and the document is viewed as the basis upon which PNAC was formulated. The Israeli designs would only be feasible if the United States provided the muscle and the resources, and thus the nexus between these two plans. Clean Break also undermined all the negotiating efforts to obtain a negotiated solution with the Palestinians.

The paper also recommended that Israel drop the Labor Party's 'comprehensive peace' slogan and aim for 'balance of power,' launch 'hot pursuit' strikes into Palestinian territory - now a staple of the Sharon government - and work to loosen Yasir Arafat's grip on the Palestinian Authority, a policy reflected in the recent pressure to compel Arafat to accept a prime minister.[1]

Perle, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, led the discussion. Wurmser was listed as a member of the Israeli Institute. Before taking up his Pentagon post, Wurmser was a Middle East studies expert at the American Enterprise Institute. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld felt it necessary to distance himself from Perle last year when the press learned that a former aide of Lyndon LaRouche had addressed the Defense Policy Board on reputed Saudi machinations, a theme also favored by Perle and Wurmser. Rumsfeld said the 'talented' Perle, whose Pentagon post is unpaid, did not speak for Rumsfeld or for President Bush.

Perle had close business ties with Conrad Black, former chairman of Hollinger International Inc., which owns more than 400 daily and weekly newspapers in Canada, the United States, Britain, Israel and Australia. Hollinger papers include London's Daily Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Jerusalem Post. Perle used these papers and others to trumpet his anti-Saddam sentiments and to tangle with political figures, such as British Minister Clare Short, who opposed the Perle line on Iraq. Black, a Canadian, joined fellow media kingpin Rupert Murdoch in defending British Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to stick with Bush's war aims, despite overwhelming domestic opposition.

Perle was a top executive of Hollinger Digital Inc., which is the media management and investment arm of Hollinger [2][3]. Perle was listed on various corporate boards through his association with Hollinger. Whether or not Perle speaks for Bush, the president's recent reasoning on Iraq follows a pattern found in Perle's writings, particularly in a lengthy piece for Israel Insider, which uses numerous non-sequiters in its emotionally-charged connection of Saddam to terrorist activity.[4]

Perle and Black are now (2004) estranged and have accused each other of wrongdoing in the looting of Hollinger assets. The Breeden Report, which catalogs the accusations against Black by the now-independent Hollinger directors, singles out Perle, among all of the corporate directors, for criticism: "As a faithless fiduciary, Perle should be required to disgorge all compensation received from the company"[5]. In October 2004, Hollinger amended its lawsuit against Black to include Perle as a defendant, asking for $22.9 million, including the $5.4 million of his compensation[6].

Despite his familiarity with the media, Perle found a piece by veteran investigative reporter Seymour Hersh a little hard to take. Hersh's New Yorker report, "A Hawk's Business," targets Perle's hush-hush meeting with Saudi industrialist Saleh al-Zuhair, a meeting arranged with the help of Iran/contra figure Adnan Khashoggi. Hersh explored the possibility of a conflict of interest for Perle, one of whose businesses is Trireme Partners LP, a venture capital firm that invests in technology, goods, and services related to homeland security and defense. Trireme also created International Advisors Inc., a lobbying firm whose main client is Turkey. Henry Kissinger is a Trireme adviser, and Perle is a managing partner.[7] Kissinger, who was forced to resign as head of the independent commission to investigate the 9/11 attacks, has been using his influence to try to keep the Saudis calm during the buildup to war. The subject of the al-Zuhair meeting is in dispute, but Perle is fighting off the impression that he was trying to use his Pentagon influence to profit from a war that he is doing all he can to implement. Hersh criticized Perle's relationship with Trireme as an ethical conflict of interest, to which Perle responded by calling Hersh "the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist."[8]

Bush has recently taken to accepting Perle's view that the United Nations is pretty much irrelevant when it comes to Iraq.[9]

Perle is also associated with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, which backs Bush's Iraq war push. Others with the foundation are columnist Charles Krauthammer,the Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, and Georgia senator Zell Miller. Perle, who produced the 1992 PBS documentary, "The Gulf Crisis, the Road to War," has long experience in the ways of Washington.

The wide-ranging Perle even finds himself involved in Total Information Awareness technology. He was listed as a speaker at a March 13 Washington press briefing on 'data mining,' the use of computer technology to sift out patterns from electronic communications. A fellow Pentagon official, Admiral John M. Poindexter of Iran-Contra notoriety, spurred a political firestorm with his TIA plans. Congress forbade such technology to be used against Americans. The briefing, which also billed Sen. Ron Wyden, was promoted as informational only. However, concerned scientists have charged that data mining pays off in miniscule results in contrast to widespread privacy violation.[10]

Mr. Perle has received some heat due to a possible conflict of interest with serving on the Defense Policy Board and being hired as an advisor for Global Crossing, "Even as he advises the Pentagon on war matters, Richard N. Perle, chairman of the influential Defense Policy Board, has been retained by the telecommunications company Global Crossing to help overcome Defense Department resistance to its proposed sale to a foreign firm, Mr. Perle and lawyers involved in the case said today." Mr. Perle's fee is $750,000, but he will receive an additional $600,000 if the sale is approved. [11] Concerned over conflict of interest, senior Democrats sought an inquiry into the matter by the Pentagon inspector general. [12]

Perle maintained that he had not violated any ethics rules, but decided to resign his position as chairman of the Defense Policy Board on March 26, 2003, [13]. In an effort to save face, he wrote in his resignation letter that he would refuse any compensation with his deal with Global Crossing and "any fee for past service would be donated to the families of American forces killed or injured in Iraq." There was also a report that "The communications company, Global Crossing, also announced that Mr. Perle had decided to sever his ties with it."[14] [15]

The Global Crossing affair started a more critical look into Perle's business affairs. On March 29, 2003, The New York Times reported that Perle was involved with Loral Space and Communications in 2001 as an advisor while it faced accusations that it transfered rocket technology to China. [16] It is worth noting that the Global Crossing affair was also due to Global Crossing trying to overcome Defense Department opposition to be sold to a venture with ties to China.

In February 2004, Perle resigned entirely from the Defense Policy Board. [17] The full text of Perle's resignation letter may be found at the website for the public relations firm Benador Associates. [18]

It was reported May 25, 2004, by CNN that Tom Clancy, the brand name author with many admirers in the military criticized the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, citing it as proof that "good men make mistakes."

That same writer said he almost "came to blows" with a leading war supporter, former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle.

The hawkish master of such million-selling thrillers as "Patriot Games" and "The Hunt for Red October" now finds himself adding to the criticism of the Iraq war, and not only through his own comments.

His latest book, Battle Ready (2004 book) is a collaboration with another war critic, retired Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni. "Battle Ready" looks at Zinni's long military career, dating back to the Vietnam War, and includes harsh remarks by Zinni about the current conflict.

In a press conference held on March 25, to promote the book, both Clancy and Zinni singled out the Department of Defense for criticism. Clancy recalled a prewar encounter in Washington during which he "almost came to blows" with Richard Perle, a Pentagon adviser at the time and a longtime advocate of the invasion.

"He was saying how (Secretary of State) Colin L. 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."

One unusual (but in-character for him) habit of Perle's is his demands for payment for press inteviews [19].

Organizational affiliations

• American Enterprise Institute, Senior Fellow
• Autonomy, serves on the Board of Directors
• 1992 Committee on U.S. Interests in the Middle East
• Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Advisor
• Defense Policy Board, Member, (was Chairman but resigned March 26, 2003 due to Hersh/Khashoggi and Global Crossing scandals)
• Geobiotics, LLC, Non-executive director
• Global Crossing, Advisor/Lobbyist [20]
• Hollinger Digital Inc., Director and Co-Chairman
• Hollinger International Inc., Director and member of the Executive Committee
• Jerusalem Post Publications, Director
• Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, on the Board of Advisors
• Morgan Crucible, PLC, Non-executive director since 1988[21]
• National Security Advisory Council, Member
• Onset Technology, on the Board of Directors
• Project for the New American Century
• Trireme Partners LP, Managing partner
• US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce
• Washington Institute for Near East Policy
• The Center for Wild-Eyed Schemes of World Domination, Director [22]

Related links

• Dr. James Zogby, "New Questions About Feith," Arab American Institute, May 13, 2001.
• "Interview with Richard Perle, PBS WideAngle with James P. Rubin, July 11, 2002
• SAUDI BRIEFING FRAUD. The Sordid Sponsors Of Perle's `French Expert', Executive Intelligence Review, August 16, 2002.
• Brian Whitaker, "US thinktanks give lessons in foreign policy," Guardian Unlimited, August 19, 2002.
• Jason Vest, Turkey, Israel and the US, The Nation, August 23, 2002.
• Chris Suellentrop, "Richard Perle - Washington's faceful bureaucrat," slate.com, August 23, 2002.
• Eric Boehlert, "The armchair general," Salon.com, September 5, 2002.
• "Richard Perle: the Lowdown", David Irving's Action Report, October 10, 2002.
• "One-Track Minds on Two-Track Mideast Solutions" by Larry Cohler-Esses, Forward, Jan 24, 2003.
• "WOLFOWITZ-LIBBY-PERLE-FEITH = AUTHORS OF IRAQ WAR", South Africa Independent Media Center, March 08, 2003.
• Interview with Richard Perle, CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, March 9, 2003.
• Rosalinda, "Richard Perle Caught Running a $100-million Sheik-Down", Thunder Bay IndyMedia, March 13, 2003.
• Seymour Hersh, "Lunch with the Chairman," New Yorker, March 17, 2003.
• Eric Alterman, Perle, Interrupted, The Nation, March 20, 2003.
• Richard Perle, "Thank God for the death of the UN", The Guardian, March 21, 2003.
• Maureen Dowd, "Perle's Plunder Blunder", The New York Times, March 23, 2003.
• Pentagon Pal Perle Gets GX Paycheck, Light Reading, March 24, 2003.
• Stephen Labaton, "Democrat Seeks Inquiry on Bankrupt Firm's Adviser", The New York Times, March 24 2003.
• Jim Lobe, "Perle: 'Prince of Darkness' in the spotlight," Asia Times, March 25, 2003.
• "US general with Iraq role linked to hardline Israelis", independent.co.uk, March 26, 2003.
• Arianna Huffington, "Having Your Souffle And Eating It Too", TomPaine.com, March 26, 2003.
• Pamela Hess, "Top Rumsfeld adviser resigns over ethics", UPI, March 27, 2003.
• Richard Wolinsky, "Perles Before Swine", Wolinsky WebLog, March 28, 2003.
• Stephen Labaton, "Adviser to U.S. Aided Maker of Satellites," The New York Times, March 29, 2003.
• Bruce Murphy, Neoconservative clout seen in U.S. Iraq policy, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel On-line, April 5, 2003.
• Tim Shorrock, Richard Perle's Corporate Adventures, The Nation, April 3, 2003.
• Ben Winters, "The People vs. Richard Perle," In These Times, April 14, 2003.
• Stephen Labaton, 15 November 2003: "Report Finds No Violations at Pentagon by Adviser," New York Times: "The Pentagon's inspector general concluded this week that Richard N. Perle violated no ethics laws or rules when he was leading an influential Pentagon advisory board (Defense Policy Board) while at the same time representing two companies (Loral Space and Communications and Global Crossing) and in their dealings with the government."
• Stephanie Kirchgaesnner, Hollinger examines Perle investments. Newspaper publisher probes corporate-governance practices, MSNBC.com, November 17, 2003.
• Eric Boehlert, "The gathering storm around Richard Perle," Salon.com, November 26, 2003.
• Michelle Goldberg, "Is this the neocon century?," Salon.com, December 17, 2003.
• Paul Krugman, 23 December 2003: "Citizen Conrad's Friends," New York Times. The "Conrad" is Conrad Black.
• Jenny Falcon, "Key Pentagon Advisor Richard Perle Resigns Post as Head of Defense Policy Panel," Voice of America News, February 27, 2004.
• Sandro Contenta, "U.S. war policy 'grave error'. Ex-Rumsfeld aide admits occupation of Iraq a failure," Toronto Star, May 26, 2004: "Richard Perle, until recently a powerful adviser to U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, described U.S. policy in post-war Iraq as a failure."
• Otis Bilodeau and Peter Robison, "SEC may sue Perle over Hollinger: Regulator warned ex-Pentagon aide", Globe and Mail', March 24, 2005.
• Bio at Foreign Policy in Focus.

• Free Congress Foundation contains numerous current brief interviews in Real Media or MP3 Format with Richard N. Perle.
• Disturbingly humorous fictional Richard Perle weblog, "[23]"

Note: Portions of this article were taken from a backgrounder written by freelance reporter Paul Conant (znewz1@YAHOO.COM). Conant is the author of 'Fox News: trumpet of Israel's hard right' *[24] 0 1 2 3 4 5