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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (6537)	3/22/2003 7:10:21 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15516

Richard Perle: It Pays To Be the Prince of Darkness By Frida Berrigan \| Mar 21, 03 Richard Perle is a busy guy these days, what with his long-desired war against Iraq in full swing, plus a lucrative consulting business on the side. As the chairman of the Defense Policy Board, Perle is a close adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, with an insider's perspective on the Pentagon, the war in Iraq and the ongoing war on terrorism. As a major investor in a number of defense companies, he stands to reap considerable benefits from war and homeland security contracts. Apparently his dual roles as a major policy adviser to the Pentagon and a business dealmaker can be a bit confusing at times. A few weeks ago, Perle was hired by Global Crossing, the bankrupt telecommunications giant that is trying to sell itself to a Chinese consortium. The Pentagon and FBI are against the sale because it would put the company's fiber optics network, which is used by the U.S. government, in Chinese hands. Perle's job is to change their minds. And if anyone can, it is the "Prince of Darkness," as Perle is known by friend and foe in Washington. As he said in an affidavit dated March 7, his position as chairman of the Defense Policy Board gives him a "unique perspective on and intimate knowledge of the national defense and security issues that will be raised by the CFIUS review process." The CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, has the power to block the deal. Global Crossing is paying Perle $750,000 for this "unique perspective" and "intimate knowledge." Perle's incentive: $600,000 of his fee is contingent on government approval of the deal. But this little phrase led to a funny exchange with New York Times reporter Stephen Labaton. Perle insisted, "I'm not using public office for private gain, because the Defense Policy Board has nothing to do with the CFIUS process." But when asked about his "unique perspective" and "intimate knowledge," Perle claimed he had not noticed that phrase, saying it "was drafted by lawyers, and frankly I did not notice it." He is a busy man, we understand. But then, he called Labaton back to clarify, saying that the problematic phrase was in an earlier draft, he had noticed it and crossed it out. "You have a draft that I never signed," he said. OK? After consulting with Global Crossing's lawyers, Perle called Labaton again to say that he had told the lawyers to strike the phrase because it "seemed inappropriate and irrelevant." But then someone put the phrase back in, and Perle signed it without noticing. "It is a clerical error," he explained, "and not my clerical error." When in doubt, blame the lawyers. So the final version will be submitted without referring to Perle's "unique perspective" and "intimate knowledge." But that doesn't mean those are not what Global Crossing is paying him for. ----------------------- This is not the first time someone has questioned Perle's ethics. Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour Hersh, writing in the March 17 issue of The New Yorker, cited possible "conflicts of interest" in Trireme Partners, Perle's venture capital company. The company, which invests in companies dealing in homeland security and defense products, has raised $45 million in capital so far-almost half of that coming from U.S. defense giant Boeing. When asked about the article in a TV interview, Perle declared that "Sy Hersh is the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist, frankly." There is also the matter of Autonomy Corporation, where Perle is a director, with 75,000 shares of stock. The firm has developed a high-tech eavesdropping software that is capable of monitoring hundreds of thousands of e-mail and phone conversations at the same time. In October 2002, the Department of Homeland Security granted the company a huge contract. A few months later, Autonomy was granted $1 million in contracts from a number of government agencies, including the Secret Service and National Security Agency. As a former Clinton adviser observed with admiration, Perle "enjoys all the benefits of being an insider without any of the constraints." Frida Berrigan is a senior research associate with the Arms Trade Resource Center, a project of the World Policy Institute.

To: Mephisto who wrote (6537)	3/28/2003 1:15:02 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Top US hawk Perle resigns Veteran US Government hawk Richard Perle has resigned as chairman of a top Pentagon policy group. Mr Perle's move comes amid controversy over his dealings with the bankrupt telecommunications group, Global Crossing. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a statement he had accepted Mr Perle's resignation as chairman from the Defence Policy Board, which advises him on defence issues, but had asked him to remain a board member. "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," Mr Perle said in a letter to Mr Rumsfeld. Mr Perle, a leading advocate of the war on Iraq, said he had decided to resign because he feared that accusations of conflict of interest regarding Global Crossing could distract from Mr Rumsfeld's handling of the Iraqi conflict. 'Prince of Darkness' The controversy centres on Mr Perle's deal with Global Crossing to win US Government approval of its proposed partial sale to Asian investors, from which Mr Perle stood to make hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Pentagon had objected to the sale because it would have meant that Global Crossing's invaluable optic fibre technology would be owned by a company with strong links to China. Mr Perle has denied any wrongdoing over the issue. However, he said he was advising Global Crossing he would not accept compensation from the pending sale and added that fees for his past services would be donated to the families of US forces killed or injured in Iraq, the Associated Press news agency reported. A former assistant secretary of defence under Ronald Reagan, Mr Perle was nicknamed the "Prince of Darkness" for his opposition to arms control. Mr Perle had also not only argued for the need to go to war with Iraq, he had strongly suggested that the Iraqis would put up minimal resistance. BBC correspondent Jon Leyne says that his days of power in Washington now appear to be over. Email this to a friend news.bbc.co.uk

To: Mephisto who wrote (6537)	7/16/2003 5:32:59 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Killing with kindness 50 years on, Korea remains neglected " No one has a clear strategy for defusing the Korean crisis, least of all the Bush administration, which has undercut South Korea's efforts to promote detente." Leader Friday July 11, 2003 The Guardian It is 50 years ago this month since the Korean armistice was signed; yet the legacy of the cold war's only hot war remains as potentially dangerous as ever. The original division of the peninsula into rival spheres of influence ensured - at the expense of the peoples of Korea - that no one sought a solution. While South Korea painfully found its way to democracy, North Korea remained totally isolated, digging itself in under a Stalinist version of feudal rule. When the cold war finally ended, Korea was right at the bottom of the list: east Asia is now paying for those decades of diplomatic neglect. Living under the US nuclear threat (in Washington's language, deterred from aggression), North Korea unsurprisingly has chosen a reciprocal route. From a position of desperate weakness, Pyongyang now plays the nuclear card for all it is worth. Yesterday it declared it was ready for "both war and dialogue", hinting again that it already possesses nuclear weapons. South Korea, whose new president is currently visiting China, believes that the North has tested devices used to trigger atomic explosions. No one has a clear strategy for defusing the Korean crisis, least of all the Bush administration, which has undercut South Korea's efforts to promote detente. Though China is now playing a more active role, a new non-nuclear agreement will be hard to achieve: Pyongyang is unlikely to place itself in the position of Iraq by giving up its nuclear capability. Those who hope that the Kim Jong-il regime will collapse should reflect on the consequences of a refugee exodus which already gives Seoul nightmares. For a number of years North Korea has been kept alive by a drip-feed of international aid that is just enough to stave off famine. Even this is now in jeopardy because of a combination of donor fatigue and political disapproval. Unicef, for example, which cares for some 70,000 children at risk of death, has only secured a third of the funding it needs for this year (and has not yet heard whether its grant from Britain will be renewed). The underlying problem is that donors will only support emergency, not development, aid. They will pay to patch up a water pump but not to put in a new system. Yet the only way North Korea can move forward is by escaping from its vicious cycle of dependence. The best way to deal with Mr Kim is not to strengthen his regime by branding him as evil - but to kill it instead with kindness. guardian.co.uk

To: Mephisto who wrote (6537)	7/16/2003 5:34:56 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Former US defense chief warns of war over North Korea Tue Jul 15, 9:54 AM ET story.news.yahoo.com WASHINGTON (AFP) - William Perry, who served as defense secretary under former President Bill Clinton , believes the United States and North Korea could be at war as early as this year. The immediate cause of concern, Perry said in a Washington Post interview, is that North Korea appears to have begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods. "I have thought for some months that if the North Koreans moved toward processing, then we are on a path toward war," he told the paper. "I think we are losing control" of the situation, he said, adding that he believes Pyongyang will soon be testing nuclear warheads and that terrorists could purchase the devices to use them against the United States. "The nuclear program now underway in North Korea poses an imminent danger of nuclear weapons being detonated in American cities," said Perry, adding that he reached his conclusions after speaking with White House officials, South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and senior Chinese officials. Perry, who is widely respected in US national security circles and deeply involved in Korean policy issues, said the situation with North Korea "was manageable six months ago if we did the right things. "But we haven't done the right things," he added. Perry said he had not criticized President George W. Bush's North Korea policy up to now "because because I had hoped that the administration was going to act on this problem, and that public criticism might be counterproductive. But time is running out, and each month the problem gets more dangerous." He said Washington's Korea police was in disarray and that the multilateral diplomatic approach "as nearly as I can discern, is inconsequential." From his discussions, Perry has concluded that Bush simply won't enter into genuine talks with Pyongyang's Stalinist government. "My theory is the reason we don't have a policy on this, and we aren't negotiating, is the president himself," Perry said. "I think he has come to the conclusion that (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Il is evil and loathsome and it is immoral to negotiate with him."