TV Review: Richard Perle and Pontius Pilate
There is much to loath about the neoconservative brain trust, the puppet masters that put George Bush up to the Mess in Mesopotamia, but there is a place in a special Hell reserved for Richard Perle.
As Bush’s Defense Policy Board chief, Perle loudly proclaimed that there was a link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks, worked feverishly to justify the invasion of Iraq, called “traitorous” anyone in Congress who dared question him, and “incompetent” the military commanders who said there weren’t enough troops to do the job right.
But what makes Perle particularly loathsome is that he has no regrets about his role in the greatest foreign policy disaster in American history. Zero. Zip. Nada.
And the impression lingers that if he could do it all over again, he wouldn’t change a thing.
This overarching hubris was on full display last night as Perle did his star turn in a travelogue cum autobiopic called “The Case for War: In Defense of Freedom,” an installment in PBS’s 11-part “America at a Crossroads” series.
Perle was given creative control and it showed. This was an apparent balm from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, which “has long been under pressure by the White House to include more conservative voices,” according to New York Times television critic Alessandra Stanley.
But as Stanley notes in a review of the show, “Perle exposes himself by omission and indirection.”
This includes conveniently failing to mention that the Taliban is again ascendant in Afghanistan in a stopover at a girls’ school and street market in Kabul, and using a trip down memory lane to his alma mater, Hollywood High School, to rant against “Hollywood leftists” whom he claims worshiped Stalin back in the day.
Perle had flirted with contrition in a widely cited Vanity Fair interview in November, but it was others whom he said should have regrets about the Iraq war — the unnamed individuals responsible for what he told VF was “the devastating dysfunction within the administration of George W. Bush.”
This dysfunction, of course, occurred after Perle sniffed his last Rose Garden rose.
A comparison between Perle and Pontius Pilate seems appropriate, and so I composed this letter:
Dearest Richard:
While Pontius PIlate washed his hands after Jesus was crucified, no amount of washing is going to get the blood of all those dead Americans and Iraqis off of your hands.
May your nightmares be many and filled with the souls who were beheaded, disemboweled, raped and blown to smithereens because of your arrogance and intellectual dishonesty.
When you depart this mortal coil, may you rot in the special Hell created for people like yourself who led us into the Mess in Mesopotamia and then slunk off with their tails between their legs when the going got tough.
And when you get there, be sure to say howdy to Saddam for us.
Love and Peace, Shaun
28 Responses to “TV Review: Richard Perle and Pontius Pilate”
Watched him on Charlie Rose. The man is FULL of neocon standard “one way” questions that only lead to what he wants you to say. Erie, bald face propagandist of the first order. I am convinced that he would plan a coup if he thought there was any chance he would come out on top. Having come out on top, I am sure certain people would die in mass.
Shifty eyed liar that likes to say he is a registered Democrat of the JFK era. Riiggghhhhhht. Desperation is the calling card of the later day rightist.
White Agent:
Stop holding back! Say what you really mean.
He is a mite creepy -about on the level with Darth Cheney.
I know the neocons blamed Bush for mucking it up, but for me the plan never would have gotten off the ground, as we didn’t know beans about the Iraqi culture, and at the time could not have used the overwhelming force necessary to provide security. Also, the precursors for democracy did not exist there. Democracy does not flourish by simply removing a dictator as the British learned in their 12-year misadventure there in the 20′s. There is ample evidence that the CIA, State Dept and outside sources provided warnings that this would not be the ‘Cakewalk’ the administration was expecting it to be.
There is plenty of blame to go around- 50% goes to neocon naivete at the PNAC, 50% to obtuse arrogance by Jay Bremer and the CPA, who was fully backed by Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush. Bremer walked around in his natty suit and work boots telling everyone that he was in charge now.(Garner who was more of a realist couldn’t work with him) He gave idiotic orders: the one to deeply debaathicize the civil service and the one to dismiss Iraq’s army. Garner warned him of the certain chaos of doing so but Bremer, a man of deep faith and strong ideology like Bush, insisted he would obey his president to the letter. And now we have never recovered from the tragic repercussions of the ideas and decisions that came from this alliance.
Shaun- I could not watch Perle on PBS- it was a sacrilege.
Kritter:
Sharp analysis, but let’s set aside another 50 percent for Congress, which rolled over and let Bush scratch its big fat tummy.
And the impression lingers that if he could do it all over again, he wouldn’t change a thing.
Actually, he said on Charlie Rose that if he was the architect, the Iraqis would have been put in charge the day after Baghdad was captured. The one thing he would not change is the decision to topple Saddam. Any honest person would realize that that has no baring on whether or not to change anything else about the war.
Perle has used his neocon BS to ENRICH his pockets. He’s made a millions serving on mil-ind complex boards and at Wingnut think tanks. I would love to see a debate between Perle and Fukiyama(sp) cocerning the emptiness of the neocon idealogy. Maybe Perle can find a job for friends and family…
I watched the program last night.
The thing I found interesting is that Pearle is still a registered Democrat which shows the Neoconservative roots are still in place.
Just further supports my theory that put in the right hands. Aka Ronald Reagan that it does encompass about 70 to 75 percent of Americans beliefs in this country. However put in the wrong hands (Bush) well…..
I found it particularly interesting that Richard Holbrooke admitted that he thought Saddam had WMDS. Even Declared that Bill Clinton did, we all did. It was what should have been and turned out to not be the case.
The most interesting case was to watch a tape of Hillary on the Senate floor Saying and Listen carefully now:
“We have seen the Intell reports and Saddam has WMDS.” I wonder what intell reports those were? I do not blame Hillary. Our intell was faulty. There were a lot of people who made bad choices because of faulty intell.
I found it refreshing to not hear the crying sobs of the left (Who profess to be so compassionate for the suffering of mankind) and to see those of us who truly do care now that Iraq is a mess. Who do not want to leave the Iraqis to be murdered.
Those of us who want to make right what we mucked up. I found it refreshing to watch a show in which what is going right over there was revealed without having to listen to the mindless blather of the left screaming insults about how Teddy Roosevelt stole the election in 1555.
So Let me ask again.
What is the democratic plan for the war on terror. What is the democratic plan for anything?
Anyone know?
My view on the left? I think you guys are passionately Patriotic. I think your partriotism is so passionate that it affects your ability to make sense of world events. I think it always has been a problem for the left. That is why they are always perceived as Weak on Foreign Affairs.
If it were possible to get through to Charlie Rose, one of many questions is why – when Perle said that the Iraqi exiles should have been allowed to take over – he (Rose) didn’t press Perle to explain whether he thought Chalabi was the person he had in mind as top dog, and whether, if this had been the case Iraq would have morphed into the beacon of democracy promised by Perle and his neocon cohorts.
Overall, Rose goes into these things either not knowing basic facts or being unwilling to pursue Perle’s warped view of the time line.
Scott- Yeah sure he says that now. AFTER his many goofs were exposed. What does this fool hope to gain now? Redemption? A political future? Stock options and a seat on some rich but obscure corporate board, or sub-board or sub-sub-board? What?
No. He wants you to blame HIM for the Mess in Mesopotamia, (others appearing in order of need shall come forth as required), not neoconism, not George W Bush and the Bush family and certainly NOT the republican party. The later being by the vote…since well….its the only thing you can do to blame anything or anyone for this awful horror and obviously that “thoughtâ€? must be diffused by any means.
Don’t count on it blockheads. After thirty years of relative peace, (Gulf war not withstanding), this horror hits us full face and the shuck’n jive hypocrisy surrounding it…..Will Not Stand.
Hundreds of Thousands have died because of republican incompetence and payday is coming. I guarantee it.
Point taken, -Shaun, and I agree except I don’t think anyone could have envisioned the ineptness with which this was carried out.
Nevertheless, Congress shall bear its share of the blame -especially those who continue to support the effort without a shred of conscious thought or introspection for the disasterous repercussions of their decisions. They at least should have heeded the warning signs about trying to democratize a region we were so dismally ignorant about. (and still are)
Nobody- So you “care” now? Suddenly “see the light”?
ROTFL
You don’t have any choices left. You party can’t lead, it’s to stupid to cut bait, so get out of the way! No never mind, we’ll just shove you out of the way.
Want more sobs?
WA
I have always cared more then you can imagine.
I have never claimed what we are doing in Iraq is right. I have made the case for continuing until we get it right. However the winds of the Left seem to be winning out so now Im simply asking the Question.
What is the democratic plan?
Do you know WA? No one else here seems to have a clue. If they do they are keeping it a secret from the rest of us.
Nobody’s post is typical of last stand Bush supporters- they’ve messed up Iraq so badly the only thing left to do is mess with the left. It makes them feel better about themselves and does no real harm.
What is doing real harm to America, however, is that those in charge of running the Iraq war think just like Nobody. Whether we leave or stay Iraqis will continue to be killed in their thousands. According to General Petraeus himself, this back in the days when he was prepared to speak openly and honestly, between 300,000 and 400,000 troops would be needed to quell the insurgency.
Don’t be fooled for a moment, Nobody, like the present administration, has no interest in saving Iraqis from slaughter. His real dread is that those who spoke out and advised against invading Iraq will be proved correct if American troops are withdrawn.
Upping US casualty rates is bad for sure, but not as bad as the left getting to say we told you so. And that, my friends, is patriotism Republican style
truflo:
You have hit on an aspect of this tragedy that awaits the careful analysis of a first rate historian: Confronted with the unmitigated disaster that Perle and other architects of the war created, Job One became not extricating the U.S. from the mess but lashing out at their critics. Sure, politicians and policy makers have inflated senses of self, but the arrogance of this gang is truly mind blowing.
I will say that Daschle knew that Rove was planning on using the vote (as in the Patriot Act) on the war against the Democrats. He tried unsuccessfully to get it postponed until after the election, but Bush and Cheney refused, because they wanted to use it as an election issue.
Dick Armey originally thought the idea was crazy, but was instructed by Bush that he needed to remain loyal to the WH- he later said it was the worst vote he had ever cast.
It just is what it is-Congress should have asked the hard questions- but everyone in the country was in post 9/11 uber-patriotic mass hysteria, and defeating anyone who voted against Iraq or the Patriot Act (just ask Max Clelland) was like taking candy from a baby. A vote against it with Rove around would be political suicide.
Perle’s “if only they had done it right” thinking is what scares me most about the neocons.
He is right in his assertion that US intervention has sometimes worked (Bosnia). However, he sidesteps the issue of when and how.
Intervening in the ME is always problematic, but Bush I averted disaster by stopping at the border of Iraq. He, at least, seems to have understood that upsetting the apple cart in one region of the ME can throw the entire Muslim world into chaos.
He is making excuses now and spinning dreams of ‘if only’, instead learning one single thing from the current disasterous situation.
Nobody- Sorry but the good money after bad idea is not going to cut it.
Democratic Plan- Is as it has been stated MANY MANY TIMES.
and that is….
AGREE TO GET OUT OF IRAQ BY MARCH 2008
Or no more money for your war.
Its Over
Times Up
End Game…(play now)
You Lost
Taxes going up to cover your debt mess
You have two choices; Surrender your sword or commit Hari Kari with it, (the later prefered).
lastly- Since you like to rub our nose in how tough you think you are…Don’t expect sympathy.
His real dread is that those who spoke out and advised against invading Iraq will be proved correct if American troops are withdrawn.
Im just asking a question and you guys have NO answer.
The democrats are going to make us leave. What transpires after that will be your fault.
5 years is the republicans fault. The next 2000 will be the democrats fault.
So again I ask what is your plan?
You have none. The only plan you have is to bash Bush. To scream insults to unfurl unadulterated Venom as in Shauns letter to Pearle.
Just give me one little bit of a plan. Just one Tidbit.
Anyone?
You antiwar drones cannot even articulate one single idea about what to do after we are out of Iraq.
You are clueless. The democrats have no plan.
They have a strategy to take over control of this country, but they have no plan for Iraq, for terrorism for foreign policy.
You vehemently complained about no oversight of Bush because he controlled all 3 branches of government. Now you are begging, pleading, and working diligently to obtain that which you despised.
Absolute Control of the senate, house and Presidency.
And you call Republicans Hypocrites.
Get W to abandon his ill-conceived think-tank surge (Petraeus plan my eye!) go back to the ISG recommendations as a compromise measure. I think the Democrats would go for it- Bush missed an opportunity to get them on board by deciding he would go with the AEI plan.
Shorter Nobody:
So, how ya going to stop the truk we drove off the cliff from crashing into the bottom? What’s you plan? Nothin’, ya got notin’.
And our future is in his president’s hands.
No Kritter
I agree with you. George Bush’s huge failure was in not allowing the Democrats to play an active role in this war on terror. In Iraq and Afghanistan.
This war on terror affects us all. But. You are articulating your personal point of View. I want a plan.
Lets say its march 2008 and we are no longer in Iraq.
What is the democratic leaderships plan for the war on terror. For foreign policy. What is Hillarys Plan? What is Obamas plan. What is Nancy Pelosis plan?
Here is what I heard during the 2006 campaign. A Democratic pundit said the Democrats do have a plan for the war on terror.
Okay what is it.
To attack Terrorists wherever they are and pull out of Iraq.
Arent their terrorists in Iraq.
Yes, but we illegally invaded that country.
Okay so you are proposing to attack Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon?
Yes if that is where the terrorist are.
Wouldnt that be illegally attacking a country?
Not if the UN agreed to it.
So you are going to get the UN to agree to allowing the US attack Pakistan?
Yes if you do it right.
I see.
Need I say more?
Am I advocating the Republicans plan is correct?
Not necessarily. The premise here is that the Democrats are going to force us to leave Iraq.
Then I ask you simply.
Then what? Whats the plan.
Stop deflecting this to Bush. You have convinced me his plan is totally and absolutely 100 percent dead wrong (not really but thats the premise of this exercise.)
So now what. What is the democrats plan?
Nobody April 18th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Let me assure you that patronization will never work.
Whatever plan the Democrats have…..it will certainly be better than the republican “easy act to follow” game plan. Maybe, we will just declare that “there are no more Jihadists”.
There is no war on terror, just criminal acts and American over reaction.
Can’t hang yer excuse hat on that one can ya?!
Nobody – The Bush plan is to REFUSE to admit failure and pass on this mess to the next administration. IMO You share his stubborness and blindness. He is more worried about his legacy and place in history than Iraq or lives.
There are think tanks out there you say pull out now(CATO) and don’t go in (2002 OxfordResearchGroup). Our MSM ignores these people for the likes of Gaffney and Perle, and these idiots hve been proven wrong.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=7424
http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/briefing_papers/iraqbriefing.php
Rudi Im laughing over here because this is actually funny. Sad but funny.
See my post at 9:28.
I am simply asking what is the Democrats plan?
All any of you can do is google Bushs failures.
Google me the Democrats plan then.
The above response was to your 7:12 comment about the world opinion on WMD. I can dig up other articles from similar think tanks debunking the”WMD consensous” myth. If your sources are Hudson or AEI you will continue to drink from the KoolAid. They were wrong in 2002, they are still wrong yet the WH and our MSM still give the AEI crowd validity.
Rudi I was commenting on the program. Not making a claim.
They showed a clip of Hillary Clinton giving her “They Got Nukes” Speech on the senate floor. Now you can go google up all the stuff you want but that does not alter the fact that Hillary Rodham Clinton said on the floor of the Senate “I have seen the intell and they got nukes.” Paraphrasing here.
I like Kool aid by the way.
And secondly that still does not answer the question.
What is the Democrats plan after they make us leave Iraq?