Richard Perle is a busy man. He gets in an extraordinary amount of trouble in such a short time. There were his pre-Iraq war meetings with Iran contra figure Adnan Khashoggi, the invasion-eve investment call about business opportunities in post-war Iraq, then last month the implosion of the media conglomerate Hollinger on whose board Perle apparently sat and which invested heavily in his company, Trireme Partners. Then last week, Perle apparently spoke at a Washington event sponsored by three groups the FBI believes are front organizations for an Iranian group, the Mujahadin-el-Khalq (MEK), that the White House considers a terrorist group. Oh yes, but a "terrorist group" that wants to overthrow the ayatollahs in Iran -- a goal Perle and many of his hawkish associates at the American Enterprise Institute and at the Pentagon policy office share.

But there is another striking and almost comical aspect about Richard Perle's business and charitable activities -- how he mixes his ideological agenda with a healthy dose of self-enrichment.

As the Washington Post reports, "Perle, in an interview, said he was unaware of any involvement by the terrorist group, known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), and believed he was assisting the victims of the Bam earthquake when he delivered the paid speech.

"'All of the proceeds will go to the Red Cross,' Perle said. Informed that the Red Cross had announced before the event it would refuse any monies because of the event's 'political nature,' Perle said: 'I was unaware of that.' Perle declined to say how much he received."

--How much he received? For speaking at an event that Perle thought was to benefit the victims of the Bam earthquake? [I guess I'm naive -- big name people like Perle take big fees all the time for speaking at these events, so in that regard Perle is not unique. But it just seems for an event that is to benefit victims of this horrific earthquake, if one cared about this issue, one might you know waive one's fee. That's just me.]

But then Perle told the Post something which suggests a man as intelligent and worldly as he should have surely been able to discern that the event sponsorship was associated with the MEK.

"Perle...said he was contacted by the Premiere Speakers Bureau in mid-January about giving the keynote speech. He asked for more information about the sponsoring organizations and received a letter saying aid would be coordinated though the Red Cross and describing the event as 'solidarity with earthquake victims in Iran and an evening for Iranian Resistance.' The Iranian Resistance is often an alias for the MEK. In August, the State Department shut down the U.S. offices of the political arm of the MEK, known as National Council of Resistance of Iran."

-It's hard to believe Perle didn't well know "Iranian Resistance" was wink-wink, nudge-nudge code for the MEK.

And in fact, "some Pentagon officials considered the MEK as a possible vanguard against the Iranian government, which they viewed as a threat in the region," the Post informs us.

It all sounds familiar, somehow. One remembers Perle's AEI colleague's Michael Ledeen et co's recent meetings with Iran contra figure Manucher Ghorbanifar. Clearly the neocons are pushing regime change in Iran from the margins, while they currently are on the outs with Bush/Rove.

Posted by Laura at January 29, 2004 02:04 AM