Perle Calls On Intelligence Chiefs To Quit

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | February 18, 2004 | Eric Rosenberg

[Scenic Sounds]

WASHINGTON – Richard Perle, a chief proponent of last year's U.S. invasion of Iraq, called yesterday for the chiefs of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency to step down because of their faulty conclusions that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Perle, a close adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said top officials made no attempt to skew the intelligence about Hussein's alleged weapons arsenal. Instead, he implied, top policy-makers relied in good faith on the conclusions of the intelligence agencies.

"George Tenet has been at the CIA long enough to assume responsibility for its performance," Perle told reporters, referring to the director of the CIA. "There's a record of failure, and it should be addressed in some serious way."

Perle called for "a shake-up" in the U.S. intelligence establishment.

"I think, of course, heads should roll," he said. "When you discover that you have an organization that doesn't get it right time after time, you change the organization, including the people.

"I'd start with the head head," Perle said when asked which heads should roll at the CIA.

Perle said the DIA "is in at least as bad shape as CIA (and) needs new management."

Navy Vice Adm. Lowell E. Jacoby has headed the agency since July 2002.

President Bush, Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell have said they relied on intelligence from the CIA and DIA in their assertions that Hussein had stockpiles of mass-casualty weapons. The claim was the main rationale for the U.S-led invasion.

David Kay, former head of the U.S. weapons-hunting team in Iraq, has concluded that it was highly unlikely that Hussein possessed stockpiles of such weapons. "It turns out we were all wrong, probably, in my judgment, and that is most disturbing," Kay said last month.

Although Kay dismissed the prospect that stores of weapons of mass destruction would ever be found in Iraq, Perle disagreed with two relatively minor claims: that Iraq wasn't seeking to enrich uranium or develop mobile weapons laboratories to manufacture chemical or biological weapons.

"The jury is still out" on those points, Perle said.

Perle, the former chairman – and current member – of the Defense Policy Board, a senior level advisory panel to Rumsfeld, was an advocate for Hussein's ouster, asserting in the months leading up to the war that the Iraqi dictator's weapons stockpiles posed a grave threat to the United States.

In the lead-up to the war, Perle regularly warned about Hussein's reputed arsenal and the danger that would follow if the United Nations failed to get the Iraqi dictator to disarm.

For example, Perle told CNN on Sept. 26, 2002, that Hussein had "stockpiles of poison gas and biological weapons." He said Hussein had "a nuclear weapons program, which is under way. He's working feverishly.

"Every day that goes by, he makes additional progress in improving and refining his weapons and the means of delivering them and trying to get across that nuclear threshold. So time is certainly not on our side," said Perle, who also relied on the intelligence data.

Tenet was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in 1997.

His agency has been criticized for the Iraqi weapons episode and for failing to detect the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist strikes. He has also taken the blame for Bush's erroneous claim in a State of the Union address that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium in Niger.

Perle's call for the resignations lines him up with Sens. Bob Graham, D-Fla., the former chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential front-runner.

But Bush has offered his support for Tenet. "I strongly believe the CIA is ably led by George Tenet," he said Feb. 8 on NBC's "Meet the Press." Asked whether Tenet's position was in jeopardy, Bush replied: "No, not at all, not at all."

[Scenic Sounds]

"I think, of course, heads should roll," he said. "When you discover that you have an organization that doesn't get it right time after time, you change the organization, including the people.

"I'd start with the head head," Perle said when asked which heads should roll at the CIA.

Perle said the DIA "is in at least as bad shape as CIA (and) needs new management."

Rolling heads.

[The G Man]

Hear hear!

[Brilliant]

There was obviously a monumental screw up, but I'm not really sure it's the top guys' fault. Maybe it's just inherent in the process of gathering intelligence, given the limited resources Congress allocates, and the restrictive rules it lays down.

[Coop]

I find this to be a rather childish reaction from Mr. Perle.

[westerfield]

Not only should heads roll, but Perle's head should be one of them.

[sarasota]

No kidding. He needs to up his meds and take a deep breath.

[J. L. Chamberlain]

Oh, this is rich!

J

[hchutch]

Tenet probably should go. It's a little harsh, and he wasn't that far off, IMHO (he missed on the stockpiles, not the intentions or the programs), but we need a new DCI.

For me, the war is valid. Saddma was definitely trying to maintain the infrastructure and expertise to produce WMD. Reason enough to nail the creep there.

[CHUCKfromCAL]

Why do different standards apply to the public and private sector. If the CIA and the rest of the "intelligence" industry were private corporations that put out flawed products they would probably be out of business - or at the very least the Board of Directors would have replaced the senior management.

It seams to me that the taxpayers deserve to have someone held accountable for the failures of these organizations.

[Scenic Sounds]

What might be the downside risk of firing the heads of important intelligence agencies?

[OldFriend]

I am unwilling to assume that SH did NOT have weapons of mass murder. It is ludicrous to assume they did not exist.

That said, there is more to the story that meets the eye and I believe there is negotiating going on with Syria and Iran that is not in the public domain.

[MamaLucci]

It looks like Tenet's CIA may have exaggerated Iraq's WMD program
to give Clinton cover for his Impeachment Eve military strike.
Had Gore won, the UN would have just continued it's
corrupt charade of "containment" while being paid off by Saddam.
If the truth about the Clinton administration is ever revealed,
goodbye democrat party.

Military Strike Necessary to Stunt Weapons Program - Bill Clinton, Dec. 16, 1998

[scarface367]

Tenet and other top CIA chiefs really do need to be replaced. Regardless of the Iraq WMD (which I believe exist), Tenet has shown time and time again that he is not capable of the job. His ignoring for years of Israeli intelligence on Arafat and the Palestinians is one reason that comes to mind.

[lelio]

Perle, the former chairman ? and current member ? of the Defense Policy Board, a senior level advisory panel to Rumsfeld, was an advocate for Hussein's ouster, asserting in the months leading up to the war that the Iraqi dictator's weapons stockpiles posed a grave threat to the United States.

Why is Perle angry? He got what he wanted out of the CIA. Oh is it because he's embarassed now?

[Scenic Sounds]

Why is Perle angry? He got what he wanted out of the CIA. Oh is it because he's embarassed now?

I agree and I think it's a mistake for him to try to make that kind of fight public right now.

[tcuoohjohn]

Perle has engaged is an awesome level of hypocrisy here. It was perle who was in charge of the " Chalabi Intelligence Network", for which ,we paid Chalabi and the INC 92 Million dollars. They fed bogus intelligence to Perle, The Pentagon and CIA. Now that we are in Iraq we can't even find the alledged agent network Chalabi ran. Chalabi's explanation?.." They are in hiding"...What a crock. It was a classic case of " Intelligence for sale" where every conartist and huckster came out of the woodwork to cash in. Perle was the author of it.

[Liz]

Man, you just gotta love these Perlisms. There's so few impeccably witty policy wonks in Washington nowadays.

[Romulus]

Oh is it because he's embarassed now?

You must be joking.

[cynicom]

The lot of the "neocons" are as about conservative as Ted Kennedy. They are there to control, manage, influence, persuade or whatever,the policies of George Bush.