#7 - RW 266
Izvestia
July 23, 2003
RICHARD PERLE: WE'LL DO OUR BEST TO DEFEND OURSELVES
An interview with former US assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle
Author: Alexander Bratersky
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

FORMER US ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE RICHARD PERLE, ONE OF THE KEY PLAYERS IN IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY, HAS BEEN INTERVIEWED ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES AND PROBLEMS. PERLE DISAPPROVES OF THE FACT THAT RUSSIA DID NOT SUPPORT THE US IN THE IRAQI WAR.

Former US assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle, one of the key players in in American foreign policy, has visited Moscow. He took part in a seminar run by the Moscow School of Political Studies. We interviewed him about priorities and problems in US foreign policy.

Question: Today, the focus of America's foreign policy is North Korea with its nuclear potential. What actions will the US perform in this connection?

Richard Perle: If North Korea insists on continuing development of nuclear weapons, I think we'll have very serious problems, partly because the country provides with technologies of ballistic missiles other countries that are threatening the US. The combination of North Korean technologies, nuclear charges, and policies are threatening us, and we'll have to find an adequate response to these actions.

I think serious diplomatic cooperation in this field should be expected between he US, Russia, China, and Japan in order to try to solve this problem.

Question: Having started the war against Iraq, the US was essentially left isolated. Don't you think this may be repeated?

Richard Perle: I don't think so. But we have always made it clear that if we have no choice, we'll do our best to defend ourselves. No one is threatened today as much as the US is, so this is quite understandable.

We understand that countries taking our side are risking. Therefore, we never ask other countries to participate in our coalition if they do not have such a desire.

Question: Weapons of mass destruction have not been found in Iraq so far. Do you think the US' actions in Iraq can be justified?

Richard Perle: I think this war was justified for a lot of reasons. One of them is that Saddam was doing his best to get weapons of mass destruction. We know that he had chemical and biological weapons: this was reflected in experts' documents. We'll find these weapons as soon as the people who know where it is tell us about it.

Question: You said in your speech that the US has never sold weapons to Iraq. However, before the war it was said that such delivered had taken place, as well as contacts between the US and Iraq in the early 1980's.

Richard Perle: We had contacts with Iraq during its war against Iran, since we thought it to be the "lesser evil" and we didn't want Iran to win the war. We didn't sell arms to Iraq but allowed it to buy products of "double appliance" in third countries.

Question: Currently, there is a lot of talk in Russia about probable re-stationing of its peacekeepers to Iraq. Will their presence guarantee more stability in Iraq?

Richard Perle: If Russian peacekeepers come to Iraq and participate in the peacekeeping mission together with other countries, this will be not bad.

Question: You were critical toward President Vladimir Putin when he came to power in 1999. Has your attitude toward him changed?

Richard Perle: Putin is a very interesting and complicated person. I've never met with him and can judge about him only by what I see. One part of him wants to modernize the country, while the other one is eager to gain control, which is not prepossessing for modernization. It seems to me that he is trying to choose between these two tracks. It was a great disappointment for us that he didn't support us during our war in Iraq. We had hoped that he would support America in this issue, but they did not come true.

Question: You are known as an opponent of cancellation of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Why?

Richard Perle: It seems to me that I'm misinterpreted. The Jackson-Vanik amendment concerns only those countries that do not allow their citizens to emigrate. Russia has not been among them for many years already. This amendment does not have any practical meaning anymore. Therefore, there is no reason to cancel it. When this issue is discussed in Russia, I see that people do not understand that it does not concern Russia. I was one of the authors of the amendment and I know what I'm saying.

Question: You're sure to watch the situation surrounding the company YUKOS. Do actions of he Russian authorities threaten American investments?

Richard Perle: There is no doubt that this situation will affect investments. There are a lot of opportunities throughout the world, and American companies can invest their money in India, China, or at home. However, businessmen should be sure about safety of their capital. The Russian government is taking measures against YUKOS, but what is happening to its shares? They're declining, together with the entire Russian stock market. Then why invest in Russia if there are fewer problems in India or China.

Question: Don't you think it strange that communist China is a better place for investments than capitalist Russia?

Richard Perle: The Chinese understand that it is not worthwhile to joke with such things as foreign investments, or else investors will go to some other place. However, I agree that there is certain irony about this statement.

Question: You worked under Ronald Reagan. In the USSR he was viewed as the devil incarnate for some time. How did you like working with him?

Richard Perle: He is a very interesting person. He had a brilliant sense of humor, and he was very interested in people. He was not a professional politician, but now it turns out that he himself was writing very interesting articles and essays on different political, social, and economic issues before he became president. Many people viewed him as a Hollywood actor who did not understand anything. But he proved to be a very wise person who understood that it was possible to defeat the Soviet system. He knew that it was very fragile in reality.

Question: Today Arnold Schwarzenegger is seriously talking about taking up politics. Do you think he has a chance?

Richard Perle: He is a very smart guy. He is not just an actor, although there are a lot of intellectuals among actors too.

(Translated by Kirill Frolov)

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