Richard Perle

Richard Norman Perle, (born September 16, 1941 in New York City), is an American political advisor and lobbyist who worked for the Reagan administration as an assistant Secretary of Defense and worked 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.

He is a member of several conservative think-tanks, such as Project for the New American Century (PNAC), the Hudson Institute, and (as a resident fellow) the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. He is also a Patron of the Henry Jackson Society. Perle has written extensively on a number of issues; his cited research interests including defense, national security and the Middle East.

Education and early career

Perle was born in New York into a Jewish family, and attended the University of Southern California, earning a B.A. in English in 1964. He also studied at the London School of Economics and obtained a M.A. in political science from Princeton University in 1967.

Office of Senator Henry Jackson

From 1969 to 1980, Perle worked as a staffer for Democratic Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington. He was considered as an extremely knowledgeable and influential person in the Senate debates on arms control. By his own admission, Perle acquired the reputation of an influential figure who preferred to work in the background, a reputation that has followed him through the years in both the public and private sectors. At some point (usually said to be during his time in the Reagan Administration) Perle acquired the nickname "The Prince of Darkness", which has been used both as a slur by his critics and as a joke by supporters. (Time Magazine, March 23, 1987, "Farewell Dark Prince") However, he has been quoted saying that; "I really resent being depicted as some sort of dark mystic or some demonic power....All I can do is sit down and talk to someone..." (New York Times, December 4, 1977, Jackson Aide Stirs Criticism in Arms Debate, Richard L. Madden)

Opposition to nuclear arms reduction

Perle was considered a hardliner in arms reduction negotiations with the Soviet Union and has stated that his 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 from the Soviets. Perle called the arms talks under negotiation in the late 1970s "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 agreement to halt all cruise missile development. Perle is widely credited for spearheading opposition to the treaty, which was never ratified by the Senate.

Reagan administration and allegations of corruption

From 1981 to 1987, Perle was Assistant Secretary of Defense for international security policy in the Reagan administration. Perle was widely criticized after it was reported that he had recommended that the Army purchase an armaments system from an Israeli company that a year earlier had paid him $50,000 in consulting fees. Perle acknowledged receiving the payment the same month he joined the Reagan administration, but said the payment was for work done before joining the government and that he had informed the Army of this prior consulting work (New York Times, April 17, 1983, "Aide Urged Pentagon to Consider Weapons Made by Former Client", Jeff Gerth. See also New York Times, April 21, 1983, "On buying weapons and influence", Editorial.).

War with Iraq

Pre-2003 Invasion

Like many in the neoconservative movement, Perle had long been an advocate of regime change in Iraq. He was a signatory of the January 26 1998 PNAC Letter sent to US President Bill Clinton that called for the military overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. Perle came into further prominence due to his role in backing the 2003 invasion, and continues to support the military presence there. He believed that Saddam's control of the government was fragile, and that an invasion of Iraq would remove him 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:

"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."

The Iraqi government and military collapsed within three weeks of the beginning of the 2003 invasion of Iraq on March 20.

In the leadup to the war, Perle also complained that C.I.A. officials were so hostile to defectors brought out of Iraq by the Iraqi National Congress that they refused to interview them and even tried to discredit them.

Perle advocated invading Iraq with only 40,000 troops, and complained about the calls by then Gen. Eric Shinseki to use 250,000 troops. He preferred a rerun of the Afghan war, where the U.S. would insert SOF (Special Operations Forces), along with some two divisions, to assist native Kurdish and Shi'ite rebels, much as the United States had done with the Northern Alliance against the Taliban. On [November 21st] 2006 the Moktar Primary School in Irbil Kurdistan was renamed in honor of Perle. Nevertheless, in an interview he gave Vanity Fair that was excerpted in an article appearing in the November 4, 2006 Los Angeles Times, he denied having a role in the planning of the war. He is reported to have told Vanity Fair, "I'm getting damn tired of being described as an architect of the war. I was in favor of bringing down Saddam. Nobody said, 'Go design the campaign to do that.' I had no responsibility for that." The same Los Angeles Times article reports that Perle now believes that his advocacy of the Iraq war was wrong.

Iraq policy regret and Bush criticism

In a Vanity Fair article published online in November 2006, Perle expressed regret of his support of the Iraq invasion and he faulted the "dysfunction" in the Bush administration for the troubled occupation. "I think now I probably would have said, 'Let's consider other strategies for dealing with the thing that concerns us most, which is Saddam supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists'. The decisions did not get made that should have been. They didn't get made in a timely fashion, and the differences were argued out endlessly. At the end of the day, you have to hold the president responsible."

On Iraq Study Group proposals

In a December 2006 interview with Die Zeit Perle strongly criticized the Iraq Study Group proposals, saying, "I have never seen such a foolish report. ... A report that begins with false premises ends with nothing."

Other views on Foreign Policy

On the United Nations

Perle is a frequent critic of the United Nations, stating that it is an embodiment of "...the liberal conceit of safety through international law administered by international institutions...". He has also attacked the United Nations Security Council veto power as a flawed concept, arguing that the only time the U.N. utilized force during the Cold War was when "...the Soviets were not in the chamber to veto it."

Furthermore, shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq Perle stated that; "in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing" . He also argued that there was "no practical mechanism consistent with the rules of the UN for dealing with Saddam Hussein". At the time, these comments provoked controversy among critics of the war, who argued that they contradicted the U.S.'s official stance on the legality of the invasion.

On Israel

Perle chaired a study group that included Douglas Feith and David Wurmser that produced a strategy paper for the incoming Likud Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" [1]. The paper's main recommendations revolved around steering Israel away from Socialist principles, making efforts to become more self-reliant, "nurturing alternatives to Arafat's exclusive grip on Palestinian society", and working more closely with countries such as Jordan and Turkey. It also stated the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq should be a key objective for the Israeli state, advocated armed incursions into Lebanon, and suggested Arab states should be challenged as undemocratic. Aspects of these policies appear to have been later implemented by both the Israeli government and the Bush administration.

On Defense

Perle advocates pre-emptive strikes, such as in Iraq, as an extension of America's right to self defence. For example, Perle has expressed support for a theoretical first strike on North Korean and Iranian nuclear facilities. [2]

Role in Bush Administration

Conservative commentator David Brooks has said that, in his opinion, Perle's influence in the Bush administration is exaggerated. In a 2004 New York Times article Brooks' wrote that; "There have been hundreds of references ... to Richard Perle's insidious power over administration policy, but I've been told by senior administration officials that he has had no significant meetings with Bush or Cheney since they assumed office. If he's shaping their decisions, he must be microwaving his ideas into their fillings". 'The Neocon Cabal and Other Fantasies', 2004 New York Times Co.

Business Interests and Controversies

Among other engagements, Perle is co-chairman and director of Hollinger, Inc., a partner of Trireme, a non-executive director of Autonomy and a director of the Jerusalem Post (which is owned by Hollinger).

Accepted money from an Israeli armaments company

In 1983, he was the subject of a New York Times investigation into an allegation that he recommended that the Army buy weapons from an Israeli company from whose owners he had, two years earlier, accepted a $50,000 fee. Perle later acknowledged that he had accepted the fee, but vigorously denied any wrongdoing.[The New Yorker 2003-03-17]

Seymour Hersh and 'Lunch with the Chairman'

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 he claimed stood to profit from the war in Iraq.

That same day Perle was being interviewed on the issue of Iraq by CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Shortly before the interview ended, Blitzer quoted 'Lunch with the Chairman' and asked for Perle's response. Perle dismissed the premise of the article and argued that it lacked "any consistent theme". Added Perle; "Sy Hersh is the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist, frankly." .

On March 11, Perle told the New York Sun as regards Hersh's article that "I intend to launch legal action in the United Kingdom. I’m talking to Queen’s Counsel right now", . He claimed it was easier to win libel cases in England, and that therefore made this a better location. In the end, Perle did not file any legal case. Instead, on March 27, 2003, he resigned as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, although he still remained a member of the board.

Investigation into conflicts of interest

The Department of Defense's inspector general commenced an investigation into Perle's business interests at the behest of several members of Congress, who inquired whether Perle violated federal conflict-of-interest provisions by improperly mixing his government duties with his business interests. However, the Inspector general ruled that federal conflict of interest rules didn't apply to Perle because the provisions don't apply 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. Thus, no further action was taken.

Perle has served as a Director of Hollinger International since June 1994 and is the only outside director on the executive committee. He is also Co-Chairman of Hollinger Digital Inc. and a Director of Jerusalem Post, both of which are subsidiaries of the Company. He has served as a director of GeoBiotics. On August 31, 2004, a special committee of the Board of Directors investigating the alleged misconduct of the controlling shareholders of Hollinger International submitted the 512-page Breeden Report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the report, Perle is singled out as having breached his fiduciary responsibilities as a company director by authorizing several controversial transactions which diverted the company's net profit from the shareholders to the accounts of various executives. Perle received over $3 million in bonuses on top of his salary, bringing the total to $5.4 million, and the investigating committee called for him to return the money.

Top Hollinger executives dismissed the report and have filed a defamation lawsuit against the head of the investigating committee, former SEC chairman Richard C. Breeden. However, in 2005, Perle publically acknowledged he had been served a 'Wells notice', a formal warning that the S.E.C.'s enforcement staff had found sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to bring a civil lawsuit.

Legal issues

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 Bill Clinton, Former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe and Global Crossing.

Works

Perle is co-founder of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a spin-off from the American Enterprise Institute.

Perle is author of many articles and three books:

• An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror (with David Frum, 2003) ISBN 1-4000-6194-6
• Hard Line (1992) (ISBN 0-394-56552-5)
• Reshaping Western Security (ed.) (1991) (ISBN 0-8447-3790-9)

In 1992 he produced the PBS feature The Gulf Crisis: The Road to War.

Personal life

Perle married Leslie Joan Barr on July 31, 1977. The couple has a son, Jonathan. Perle owns a vacation home in Provence in France where he spends much of his time. When in the U.S., he resides primarily in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, with his family.

External links

• LookSmart - Richard Perle directory category
• SourceWatch- Richard Perle profile
• AEI - Richard Perle profile as Resident Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute
• Serving Two Flags Stephen Green in Counterpunch February 28, 2004/February 29, 2004
• Judicial Watch legal complaint March 28, 2003
• "An End to Evil" by David Frum and Richard Perle, Gary Kamiya salon.com, book review, January 30, 2004
• Richard Perle's Conflict editorial/op-ed in The New York Times March 24, 2003
• Jamming a grand square into a smoldering round hole source of Perle's "grand square" quote (w/audio clip) Catch.com September 14, 2004

• Debates, interviews and statements
  • Thank God for the Death of the UN Richard Perle in The Guardian March 21, 2003
  • Lunch with the Chairman Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker March 17, 2003
  • Saddam's Ultimate Solution transcript of interview with Richard Perle from PBS Wide Angle July 11, 2002
  • Famous Ohio State University Debate - Noam Chomsky vs. Richard Perle, 1988 MP3

• Hollinger
  • Hollinger International's management profiles of current executive officers and directors
  • "Report Details 'Kleptocracy' at Newspaper Firm" Frank Ahrens in The Washington Post September 1, 2004 about Hollinger
  • SEC - Breeden Report Report of Investigation by the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Hollinger International Inc August 30, 2004