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Perle is part of a 'troika' of right-wing hard-line supporters of Israel who have been largely driving the Bush regime's headlong acceleration toward war and global military and economic dominance. See the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) ... give it a good study -- it is tantamount to a latter-day Nazi manifesto:
http://www.newamericancentury.org/
The other members of the 'troika' are Wolfowitz and Feith. -- John Wilmerding
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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/politics/27CND-PERLE.html
Rumsfeld Adviser Resigns as Head of Pentagon Panel
by Stephen Labaton and Thom Shanker
Copyright 2003 The New York Times
Washington -- March 27, 2003 -- Richard N. Perle has resigned as chairman of an influential Pentagon advisory board, following disclosures of business dealings that included his meeting with a Saudi arms dealer and a contract with a bankrupt telecommunications company seeking Defense Department permission to be sold to Chinese investors.
In a letter dated Wednesday to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who appointed him to the post two years ago, Perle said he was "dismayed" that criticism over his business ties was distracting Pentagon officials while they were dealing with the war in Iraq.
"I have seen controversies like this before, and I know that this one will inevitably distract from the urgent challenge in which you are now engaged," Perle wrote. "I would not wish to cause even a moment's distraction from that challenge. As I cannot quickly or easily quell criticism of me based on errors of fact concerning my activities, the least I can do under these circumstances is to ask you to accept my resignation as chairman of the Defense Policy Board."
Though the Pentagon advisory board does not pay its members, and is technically not a government agency, it wields tremendous influence in policy circles. And its chairman is considered a "special government employee," subject to federal ethics rules, including one that bars anyone from using public office for private gain.
In response to criticism of Perle's fee arrangement with the communications company, Global Crossing, under which he was to receive $600,000 if the Pentagon approved the company's sale, Perle reversed course and said he would not accept any compensation resulting from completion of the deal. He also said that "any fee for past service would be donated to the families of American forces killed or injured in Iraq."
In a brief telephone conversation with a reporter today before the Defense Department announcement, Perle sounded angry. Asked whether he had resigned, he replied: "Let me just tell you something. If I had, you'd be the last person in the world I'd want to talk to." He then hung up.
Rumsfeld issued a statement tonight praising Perle's service and his "willingness to continue to serve" on the influential board.
"Richard Perle has a deep understanding of our national security process and an abiding interest in preserving America's strength and freedom," Rumsfeld said. "He has been an excellent chairman and has led the Defense Policy Board during an important time in our history."
Other senior officials at the Pentagon expressed relief at Perle's decision. For months, some of them have been uncomfortable with his policy statements, especially on Iraq, because they carried with them the implication that they had the Secretary's imprimatur, whether or not they did.
But Perle's recent troubles emerged from disclosures this month about his business dealings. They began with an article in The New Yorker by Seymour M. Hersh that disclosed that Perle had lunch this year with the arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
Last week, Perle and lawyers involved in Global Crossing's bankruptcy disclosed that he had been retained to advise the company how to overcome Defense Department resistance to its sale to an Asian venture led by Hutchison Whampoa, which is controlled by the Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.
Global Crossing is in the process of rewriting its proposed sale after the Defense Department and the F.B.I. objected, raising national security and law enforcement concerns.
In recent days, criticism of Perle from Democratic lawmakers had begun to rise.
Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has asked the Pentagon's inspector general to examine Perle's business dealings. And on Wednesday, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Arms Services Committee, sent a letter to Rumsfeld expressing "deep concern" about the news reports of Perle's business relationships.
II believe that Mister Perle should be asked to make a choice between stepping down from the Defense Policy Board or making a commitment not to have any further contact with DOD officials on behalf of a client, not to allow his name to be used in connection with any such contact, and not to accept any fee that is contingent upon an action of the Department of Defense," Levin wrote.
Through a senior aide, Conyers said that Perle's decision "is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't eliminate the problem" until he leaves the board.
Perle has been a strong and early supporter of the war with Iraq. He is considered one of the more influential advisers to the Bush administration, which is filled with many of his friends and former colleagues from the Reagan administration, in which he served as an assistant defense secretary.
Among others who have been retained to gain approval of the proposed Global Crossing deal are Thomas F. McLarty III, the former Clinton chief of staff; Stuart E. Eizenstat, a former deputy Treasury secretary, and lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Dewey Ballantine.
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