Re: Gulf War II/Israeli War IV

[William B Ward]

Bob Novak took me by surprise when he indicated that the idea to move on Iraq is that of Richard Perle, a foreign affairs advisor to Bush who also was an advisor to his dad.   It was not that I was unaware of the role that Perle was playing in the administration but that Novak would be so outspoken about it. Colin Powell has been outflanked by Condoleezza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Perle. It appears that this same group may have undermined Powell's position on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.   Perle has never found a target he didn't want to go after and is probably sensitive to his buddies when they admonish him that the job on Saddaam was not finished the first time.   Wolfowitz has been a busy guy, building the Central Command in Tampa, working very closely with Dick Cheney, and serving as Ambassador to Indonesia in addition to his academic roles at SAIS and elsewhere. He may be pushed a little by the fact that a war with Saddaam is a good way to take some of the heat off of his old boss. Wolfowitz has written "Both the policy and the intelligence sides suffer, as does the national interest, whenever principles or practices are allowed to interfere with close professional cooperation."  http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/96unclass/davis.htm   Translated, this seems to mean to me that policy makers must be those who decide what is in the national interest and to not be distracted by minor issues such as lack of congressional, public, and international support.   Bill Ward