RICHARD PERLE, GEORGE TENET & THE TRUTH

There's a little dust-up among the wingers about Tenet's claim that on Sept. 12, 2001, Richard Perle told him that "Iraq has to pay a price for what happened yesterday. They bear responsibility."

I won't address that narrow issue here but I will note that Perle expressed eagerness to attack Saddam a few days after 9-11¹.

HUNT: You mentioned Iraq. Vice President Cheney said on "Meet the Press" that Iraq was the -- our information was Iraq was not behind this latest incident. But should a primary goal of the war on terrorism be to topple Saddam Hussein?

PERLE: Yes, I think so. There is no question Saddam has been involved in acts of terror. He gives support to terrorists and harbors them. They have safe passage in his country. They are permitted to operate there freely. As long as he is around with his desire for vengeance, he will be supporting international terrorism.And we need to take this fight to the countries that harbor terrorists. Chasing individual terrorists is not the way to solve this problem.

[SNIP]

NOVAK: Mr. Perle, when -- before we went to Attorney General Ashcroft, I understood you to be saying that we should take actions against terrorists or people who harbor terrorists even if they are not necessarily associated with the catastrophe of September 11. Is that correct?

PERLE: Even if we cannot prove to the standards that we enjoy in our own civil society that they were involved. We do know, for example, that Saddam Hussein has ties to Osama bin Laden. That can be documented. So, on the theory, which seems to be a valid one, that if you support terrorists and they then commit atrocities against Americans, you are responsible. Unless we hold those countries responsible, we will be chasing terrorists without significant effect.

¹SHOW: CNN EVANS, NOVAK, HUNT & SHIELDS 17:30
September 16, 2001 Sunday
Transcript # 091600CN.V38
SECTION: News; International
LENGTH: 2417 words
HEADLINE: Richard Pearle Discusses U.S. Defense
GUESTS: Richard Perle
BYLINE: Robert Novak, Al Hunt
HIGHLIGHT:
U.S. Defense Policy Board Chairman Richard Perle discusses America's security.