Richard Perle’s Stealth Attack on Saudi Arabia

By Richard H. Curtiss

Former Pentagon official Richard Perle, a long-time supporter of Israel, reached new heights in his mission to distract the American public from dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian problem. Perle is chairman of the Defense Policy Board, an advisory panel to the Pentagon, which is often in the headlines.

Former French Ministry of Defense employee Laurent Murawiec, now a Rand Corporation analyst, gave a controversial briefing to the Defense Policy Board on July 10. Although the topic was expected to be Iraq’s Saddam Hussain, there were big surprises in store.

Murawiec’s briefing was, to put it mildly, inflammatory. Presented as it was to former senior officials and intellectuals who advise the Pentagon, it might have passed without notice. Perle, however, had ensured that would not happen, with his journalistic cohorts preparing the way for Murawiec’s shocking statements.

Prior to the briefing, two articles making similar charges to Murawiec’s already had appeared. One, in the July issue of Commentary, published by the American Jewish Committee, was entitled “Our Enemies, the Saudis,” by Victor Davis Hanson.

The other article was printed in a July edition of the Weekly Standard, edited by William Kristol. The article, written by Simon Henderson, an adjunct scholar of the AIPAC-spinoff Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was entitled “The Coming Saudi Showdown.”

Following the same policy line, Murawiec’s briefing recommended that Saudi Arabia should be warned that its financial assets are at risk. “The Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain,” he alleged, “from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot soldier, from ideologist to cheerleaders.”

“Saudi Arabia supports our enemies and attacks our allies,” Muraweic went on to say, adding that Saudi Arabia “is the kernel of evil, the prime mover, the most dangerous opponent” in the Middle East. The U.S. should demand that Saudi Arabia stop funding terrorism around the world, he said, and Saudi Arabia should stop making anti-Israel statements and “prosecute or isolate those involved in the terror chain, including in the Saudi intelligence services.”

If the Saudis refuse to comply, Murawiec recommended, Saudi oil fields and overseas financial assets should be “targeted.” Murawiec concluded his briefing by linking the necessity of regime change in Iraq with the need to alter Saudi behavior.

Having fired a verbal missile against both Saudi Arabia and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain, Chairman Richard Perle then seemed to try to remove the traces of his stealth attack on Saudi Arabia.

It turned out that Murawiec apparently had no previous experience in the Middle East. If he has any other credentials of note, Murawiec has not explained them. In short, after having served his purpose, Murawiec seems to have become a non-person.

Murawiec’s briefing was, to put it mildly, inflammatory.

The confusion between Perle’s Defense Policy Board and the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, headed by retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft, apparently serves a purpose. The 15 members of the latter board have long credentials and have no overlap at all with Perle’s Defense Policy Board

It is Perle’s group that has been making headlines. Strangely, after the Murawiec briefing, only one member of the Perle-chaired board stood up to defend the long-term relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. That was Henry Kissinger, who said, “I don’t consider Saudi Arabia to be a strategic adversary of the United States. They are doing some things I don’t approve of, but I don’t consider them a strategic adversary.”

It is not clear which other members of the Perle board were present for Murawiec’s briefing.

Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal has since denounced the briefing as “pure fiction,” predicting that it “will have no lasting impact. It is unfortunate,” Prince Saud noted, “that there are some people in some quarters who are trying to cast doubt and undermine the solid and historic ties between our two countries. I am confident that they will not succeed.”

Similarly, Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned the prince to assure him that Murawiec’s “musings” did not represent U.S. policy.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, acknowledging differences with the Saudis, said, “It is nonetheless a country where we have a lot of forces located and we have had a long relationship.”

On Aug. 11, Saudi Foreign Ministry adviser Adel-al-Jubeir appeared on “Meet the Press” and on CNN. Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign minister was interviewed on ABC’s “This Week.” The two Saudi guests answered all questions exhaustively.

They made the points that Saudi Arabia has been a very effective member of the international coalition against terrorism, pointing out that the Kingdom has frozen bank accounts, made arrests, and seen that “evil doers” were purged from charities.

Board Clarification

For clarity, members of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board are: Gen. Brent Scocroft, chair; Amb. Cresencio Arcos, Jr.; James Barksdale; Robert Day; Stephen Friedman; Dr. Rita Hauser; Ray Hunt; Adm. David Jeremiah (Ret.); Dr. Arnold Kanter; James Langdon; Alfred Lerner; Dr. Elisabeth Paté-Cornell; John Streicker; Hon. Pete Wilson and Dr. Philip Zelikow.

After five telephone requests, the Defense Policy Board, chaired by Richard Perle, produced a list of their board members. They are listed alphabetically:

Dr. Kenneth Adelman; Hon. Richard Allen; Dr. Martin Anderson; Dr. Gary Becker; Dr. Barry Blechman; former Defense Secretary Dr. Harold Brown; Dr. Eliot Cohen; Ms. Devon Cross; Gen. (Ret.) Ronald Fogleman; former Speaker Hon. Thomas Foley; Hon. Tille Fowler; former Speaker Hon. Newt Gingrich; Mr. Gerald Hillman; Dr. Kim Holmes; Gen. (Ret.) Chuck Horner; Dr. Fred Ikle; Adm. (Ret.) David Jeremiah; former Secretary of State Dr. Henry A. Kissinger; Mr. Phillip Merrill; Adm. (Ret.) Bill Owens; Dr. Richard Perle; former Vice President Dan Quayle; Dr. Henry Rowen; former Defense Secretary Dr. James Schlesinger; Gen. (Ret.) Jack Sheehan; Dr. Kiron Skinner; Dr. Hal Sonnenfeldt; Mr. Chris Williams; Hon. Pete Wilson; and former CIA Director James Woolsey.

For those who may be confused between the two boards, Richard Perle has long been referred to by his enemies as “The Prince of Darkness.” Once again Perle has lived up to his sobriquet in his advice to the Pentagon. By contrast, Gen. Brent Scowcroft’s advisory board keeps its recommendations to the president quiet and does not seek publicity or startling headlines.

Richard Curtiss is the executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.