By Donald H. Harrison
Richard Perle, former assistant secretary of Defense for security affairs, said links between
Iraq and worldwide terror recently have been well documented, and that toppling Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein not
only will have beneficial effects for the people of that country, but also for Israel and the people of
Iran.
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Perle addressed approximately 175 major contributors to the United Jewish Federation at a dinner co-chaired by
Jerry and Carole Turk on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at the La Jolla Torrey Pines Hilton.
"On the Sunday talk shows, you will see people say it is not possible to establish a link between Saddam
Hussein and terror," Perle told the attendees. "That is simply not true. There are links and they are well
documented. They were not well understood before Sept. 11, and the reason for that was that the intelligence
community, principally the CIA and other agencies in the intelligence community, adopted a theory, a model of
reality, and in that model of reality secular terrorists and religious terrorists did not get together.
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Richard Perle
Herb Targum photo |
"On the contrary, it was their belief that the relationship was one of hostility and therefore they never looked to
see whether links were established," Perle asserted. "A small number of people in the Defense Department
who were doubtful about this theory" decided to examine archival material, including interviews with defectors
and communications that had been intercepted, and "within a matter of weeks began to discover extensive links
between Iraqi intelligence and the organization of Osama bin Laden."
The evidence was so conclusive that CIA director George Tenet recently reversed himself and acknowledged
the links in a letter to the U.S. Senate, Perle said.
"Terrorism is of one piece," he told the UJF contributors. "Terrorism against Israelis in Israel, against Israelis in
Africa, against Americans. It is all of a piece.
"One of the things that we have learned is that terrorists work together; they work together in much the same
way that the criminal underground works together. You need someone to help with a safecracking in Phoenix,
and you happen to live in Detroit, you will find someone who will help you in Phoenix. There is an underground
communication.
"There is an underground communication among terrorists as well," he said. "We found the Irish Republican
Army assisting Colombian terrorists in the manufacture of explosives. The IRA is good at that. We are
beginning to wake up to the cooperative arrangements that exist among terrorist organizations around the
world."
Perle described Saddam Hussein as "one of the most unrelenting opponents in history" toward Israel, noting that
the Iraqi leader regularly sends checks to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers and harbors terrorists.
Perle served as an assistant secretary of Defense under Caspar Weinberger during Ronald Reagan's
presidency, and although in private business today, he keeps close to the Defense Department as the civilian
chairman of its policy advisory board.
He said toppling Saddam Hussein will be a relief for average Iraqi citizens, because "this is a man who has
ruled by such terror, such unimaginable terror, that there are very few Iraqis who will fight for him."
A couple of months ago, a surgeon working in a Baghdad hospital defected from Iraq by traveling to Turkey
through the Kurdish region, Perle reported. The man told authorities that he couldn't bring himself to comply
with standing orders from Saddam Hussein that young men who had deserted from the Iraqi armed forces
should have their ears cut off.
"In some cases, these were teenagers who were desperate to see an ailing
parent," Perle said. Furthermore, he said, "we know and have ample documentation that
Saddam routinely uses
rape as a means of political control, but in this case family members are forced to observe.
"It is an unspeakable regime, and for the life of me I cannot understand why there is such solicitousness in the
United Nations for Saddam Hussein or why our allies abroad are so reluctant to fully support the United States
and the President."
Perle urged early action against Saddam, whom he described as "a man who is brutal to his own people, who
possesses chemical and biological weapons, who is working furiously to achieve a nuclear capability, and if we
leave him in place, he will only become more dangerous with the passage of time."
Asked during a question-and-answer session about Iran, Perle predicted that if Saddam Hussein is brought
down, it could hasten a revolution that already is brewing among young people in neighboring Iran.
"The people of Iran are fed up with the government that now controls every aspect of their lives," he said.
Because the government and religious powers in Iran are "the single largest source of money for terrorist
activity, particularly against the Israelis," Perle said American policy should be to encourage "what is already an
inchoate revolution among the broad masses of the Iranian people, who are simply fed up.
"Per-capita income in Iran today is half of what it was when the Shah was deposed," he said.
"The population is a very young population half of it under 20 and they donšt like having every aspect of their lives dictated
to them by clerics who had seized power.
"Then you have a window on the outside world through satellite television, and they know it is not necessary to
live that way. So I think there will be a revolution, and I think it will be hastened by bringing down Saddam
Hussein.
"The Iranians will look next door and think, if Saddam Hussein can be
brought down, who cannot be brought down?"
Attending Perlešs speech were contributors to the United Jewish Federation
campaign who gave $10,000 per individual or $15,000 per couple. Balancing the appearance by the conservative Republican, former New York Gov. Mario
Cuomo, a liberal Democrat, will be the featured speaker Jan. 16 at the annual UJF's Menšs Event. |