Antiwar.com Blog

Our old buddy Richard Perle, otherwise known as the Prince of Darkness, appeared on Charlie Rose’s program on Wednesday night. I tuned in just after the interview began.
There is no transcript available for this show, as far as I know, so being the industrious fellow that I am, I took notes. I can only guarantee that they are substantially accurate, but you’ll just have to trust me.
At first, Perle gave me exactly what I expected. The US “can’t exclude the possibility of military action elsewhere in the Middle East.” Perle says “the Middle East is producing the vast amount of terrorists in the world”. Specifically Syria, which Perle says is funding and encouraging, from an ideological standpoint, the insurgency in Iraq – Oh and Iran, of course, Neocon Nation’s current whipping boy. Perle suggested, in what must seem like a sensible evaluation to a democracy-worshipper, that an Iraqi Shia government would be a rival – not an ally – of Iran, despite their religious, ethnic, and cultural similarities, reason being that the Iraqi government will be elected legitimately (giggle). A more sensible evaluation, in my view, would be that a solid stream of US greenbacks, along with a dozen or so permanent US military bases in Iraq will force any Iraqi government to be unnecessarily belligerent to Iran.
Perle’s assessment is ripe with mysticism and outright lies. Even if Syria were not providing aid and comfort, shall we say, to the Iraqi insurgency (which I’m sure they are, but who knows), the insurgency would still exist, for reasons easy to understand. Now, this is where it gets complicated, because Perle understands why occupation produces insurgency. He admitted it on TV. Here is what he said. The occupation is “sadly misguided”, and the US “should have turned over Iraq to the Iraqis immediately” (immediately following Saddam’s retirement). The US “should have been working with Iraqis” to expedite a quick and bloodless regime change. However, “tremendous progress has been made”, and “most of Iraq is relatively safe”. Yeah, for the cockroaches. This is what’s called having your cake and eating it too. Rose asked Perle if the Pentagon was responsible for the philosophy behind the occupation, but Perle denied that, and claimed “other government agencies” were agitating for it. Indeed they were …
Here’s the thing; Perle led Rose into the occupation issue. He was eager to say that it’s a mistake (committed by someone else, of course). Perle made a statement along the lines of ‘failed military actions often can lead to destructive occupations’. Rose said “isn’t that what we have now in Iraq?
Why would Perle want to answer such a question? In my estimation, so he can weasel his way out of responsibility for it, and at the same time agitate for more attacks elsewhere in the region. Attacks done correctly this time.

It may be time for Chalabi to head for Tehran again. 

Ahmad Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, will be arrested after the Eid al-Adha holidays, Iraq’s interim defence minister has said.

Speaking to Aljazeera, minister Hazim Shaalan, said Chalabi would be handed over on arrest to the Interpol.

Shaalan said Chalabi was suspected of killing thousands of opposition figures in Arbil and stoking discord between the two main Kurdish parties.

“We will arrest him and hand him over to Interpol. We will arrest him based on facts that he wanted to malign the reputation of the defence ministry,” Shaalan said.

Shaalan also said Chalabi would be handed to Interpol over his conviction in absentia by a Jordanian court in 1992 of embezzling millions from Petra Bank, whose 1989 collapse shook Jordan’s political and financial system.

Chalabi, who founded and ran the bank during a long period when he lived in the country, denies any wrongdoing.

“Our measures will start after Eid,” Shaalan said.

Chalabi invited the wrath of the interim Iraqi authorities after he accused the defence minister in an interview of stealing $500 million from the ministry and posted documents on a Web site accusing him of links to Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Then again, Shaalan is about as reliable as Baghdad Bob.  Maybe this is just negative campaigning, Iraqi Puppet style.

Arthur Silber has the goods on W’s “let’s-conquer-the-world” speech, and also gives us a glimpse (but just a short one: we can’t linger there too long) into the mind of David Horowitz, who has moved from being a left-wing “revolutionary” to being a “right-wing” version of the same persona.

Juan Cole has a pictorial commentary of the first line of the Bush speech.

Chris Matthew Sciabarra reminds us that back on November 21, 2004, on ABC News’ ‘This Week with George Stephanopoulos,’ conservative columnist George Will called President Bush ‘one of Woodrow Wilson’s many, rather dangerous, reverberations.” Will must have had an advance copy of the speech.

Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Due, right, a U.S. Army recruiter, is surrounded by protesters at Seattle Central Community College, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005, in Seattle. After about a 10-minute standoff during which protesters tore up U.S Army literature, the protesters were successful in getting Due and another recruiter to leave their table under escort by campus security officers. Several hundred students walked out of classes at several Seattle colleges and universities to protest the inauguration of President Bush (news – web sites). (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

NRO blogger Peter Robinson, who dared express doubts about the messianic megalomania of the Leader’s inaugual address, has recanted: his post on the NRO blog is even entitled “I Recant,” and, in typical Stalinist style, he did it in public: on Hugh Hewitt‘s radio program. Comrade Robinson was last seen wearing an orange jumpsuit and mumbling “I love Big Brother!” while re-reading the complete works of Victor Davis Hanson.

I see that the recantatory post is timed at 1:54 a.m. — truly a case of the knock on the door in the night.

UPDATE: Oh wait, it looks like there’s some fight in the man, yet.

David Frum is complaining about a sign posted prominently outside the entrance to the Department of State — No Neocons Need Apply:

“The story is going around Washington that Senate Foreign Relations chairman Richard Lugar handed Condoleezza Rice a list of names of ‘neocons’ he wanted blacklisted from the Department of State and that Rice assented.”

Thrilling, if true. The war the neocons wanted is proving to be their undoing, and it isn’t just the Democrats in Congress who are sickened by the fact that these hornets are still buzzing around the picnic table, diving at scraps. A good dose of bug-repellant is sorely needed.

How long will it be, I wonder, before Senator Lugar finds himself under attack for once having eaten a falafel with ties to terrorist groups, or it is suddenly discovered that Condi is a secret member of the Nation of Islam?