As I noted Friday evening, Richard Perle (a member of this administration, which I explained in the earlier post) went on Crossfire and accused Colin Powell of working against President Bush’s policies. Let’s follow up on a few fronts.
First, it turns out Donald Rumsfeld agrees with me! Or at least he used to. When I saw Perle mouthing off on CNN, I thought I remembered something from Rumsfeld’s Rules (what’s that?) about this. And it turns out I’m right. “Avoid public spats,” RR says on page 9, “When a Department argues with other government agencies in the press, it reduces the President’s options.” All the more so during wartime, one must imagine.
Second, it turns out this isn’t the only freelancing Perle was doing on Friday. On the 5th, in the London Daily Telegraph, Perle penned a derisive attack on British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, for his recent visit to Tehran.
And in case you haven’t noticed, the Brits have been rather supportive of our efforts of late. (Perle just doesn’t seem to like Foreign Offices, whether in the UK or the US.)
As I explained in the earlier post, Richard Perle is a member of this administration, though he seldom identifies himself as such in these contexts. This isn’t about his views, but rather his behavior, which lacks honor, judgment and discretion. By his actions he has shown that he believes the normal rules do not apply to him.
According to Newsweek, Dick Cheney told Paul Wolfowitz to knock off the public statements about attacking Iraq, after publicly butting heads with Powell. Isn’t it time for Rumsfeld or someone to do the same with Perle?
The rules apply to Reaganites and neo-con intellectuals too, ya know. No special pleading. No excuses.
