| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Jei" |
| Date: |
30 Dec 2003 10:23:39 PM |
| Object: |
Pearle told investors they could profit from war May 7, 2003 |
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_2192.shtml
Pearle told investors they could profit from war May 7, 2003
Pentagon adviser Richard Perle briefed an investment seminar on ways to
profit from conflicts in Iraq and North Korea just weeks after he
received a top-secret government briefing on the crises in the two
countries. Perle, who until March was chairman of the Defense Policy
Board, a group of outside advisers to the Pentagon, also serves on the
board of several defense contractors. His actions raise concerns about
conflicts of interest.
Perle attended a Defense Intelligence Agency briefing in February and
three weeks later participated in a Goldman Sachs conference call in
which he advised investors in a talk titled Implications of an Imminent
War: Iraq Now. North Korea Next?
A financial advisor who participated in the conference call told Capitol
Hill Blue that Perle offered "advice on how to cash if war broke out in
Iraq and/or North Korea."
Perle did not return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment.
One of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's closest advisers, Perle was a
vocal advocate of going to war against Iraq and publicly questioned the
reliability of some longtime U.S. allies, including France and Saudi
Arabia.
He resigned as chairman of the Defense Policy Board on March 27 after it
was reported he had worked as a consultant to bankrupt telecommunications
company Global Crossing Ltd., which was trying to get Pentagon approval
to be sold to Asian investors.
In offering his resignation, Perle, 61, denied any wrongdoing and said he
didn't want questions about his outside interests to be a distraction to
Rumsfeld. He remained a member of the board.
"The guiding principle here is that you do not give advice in the Defense
Policy Board on any particular matter in which you have an interest," he
said at the time. "And I don't do that. I haven't done that."
Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., the ranking Democrat on the House
Judiciary Committee, has asked the Pentagon's inspector general to
investigate Perle's business activities and any conflicts they might pose
for his membership.
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