War Architect Richard Perle Looking To Enter Oil Business In Iraq
War Architect Richard Perle Looking To Enter Oil Business In Iraq
In March 2003, weeks after the invasion of Iraq, war architect Richard Perle resigned from his position on the Defense Policy Board in an attempt to “defuse a controversy over charges he stood to profit from the war in Iraq.”
But that hasn’t stopped Perle from continuing to seek profit from the war. Citing documents and people close to the negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reports today that Perle “has been exploring going into the oil business in Iraq and Kazakhstan. One of the oil tracts, near the Kurdish city of Erbil, “is estimated to hold 150 million or more barrels of oil, would potentially be operated by Houston-based Endeavour International”:
Mr. Perle, one of a group of security experts who began pushing the case for toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein about a decade ago, has been discussing a possible deal with officials of northern Iraq’s Kurdistan regional government, including its Washington envoy, according to these people and the documents. [...]
Mr. Perle has attended events promoting the interests of Kazakhstan, an oil-rich nation whose ruler, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is involved in a long-running U.S. investigation of 1990s-era oil-company bribery. Mr. Perle has publicly lauded President Nazarbayev as “visionary and wise,” according to a publication distributed by the Kazakh embassy in Washington.
Perle also “has explored obtaining an oil concession in Kazakhstan in tandem with a northern Iraq deal,” the Journal adds. Perle denied the reports, stating, “I am not involved in any consortium…nor am I ‘framing plans for a consortium.’” But a spokesman for Qubat Talabani, the Kurdish government’s delegate in the U.S. who deals with “investment information,” “confirmed that the envoy had been approached by Mr. Perle.”
Perle’s shady business dealings related to the war are long-standing. The New Yorker’s Sy Hersh reported in 2003 on Perle’s role as a managing partner on the defense firm Trireme Partners LLP, whose “business potential depended on a war in Iraq taking place.” In response, Perle said Hersh was a “terrorist.”
The New York Times revealed recently that the Bush administration “played an integral part” in negotiating no-bid contracts for Western oil companies in Iraq. Despite its devastating security, human, and financial costs on the United States, the Iraq war continues to pay off for the architects and their friends.
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Ah, the end-game is finally in sight!
July 29th, 2008 at 10:11 ambut that would be unethical.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:12 amHey, Perle, where’s that statue of George W. Bush they were supposed to put up in Baghdad Square?
July 29th, 2008 at 10:12 amHey, what’s a few hundred thousand lives amongst business partners?
Profit is our God, but Prophets are our message…
July 29th, 2008 at 10:13 am…In response, Perle said Hersh was a “terrorist.”
They love throwing that word around but who are the real terrorists? What do you call it when you kill hundreds of thousands of civilians all to support an ideology or to just plain plunder a country’s bounty?
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 29th, 2008 at 10:15 am13 Democrat and 2343243 reThuglican senators will be following in his footsteps.
These bastards are so evil
July 29th, 2008 at 10:18 amWatch George Galloway Vs Perle months ago…. freaking hilarious…..
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=RQbM1SYAigY
Arrest these criminals as soon as possible.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:20 amWar profiteering is treason.
Throw him in jail and let him live off his body fat as long as he can. Hell, there’s at least a month of calories in that waddle.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:21 amWhenever I see the name Richard Perle I think of this article.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:22 am“…the Iraq war continues to pay off for the architects and their friends.”
Don’t you just love it when your plans come out right?
July 29th, 2008 at 10:25 amWar profiteering should be a capital offense.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:25 amThere needs to be another Truman commission created. Not sure what good that will do however since this spineless Congress can’t even get a subpoena to stick.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:29 amInside job.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:29 amGuido the Loving OBGYN
Time for you to sign out and “practice your love with women,” concern troll.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:32 amHe probably figures he’s going to hell and might as well get a preview.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:34 amHow do you ‘negotiate’ a no-bid contract?
July 29th, 2008 at 10:37 amRichard PNAC Dual-citizen Perle trying to profit from the Iraq war? NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW
July 29th, 2008 at 10:39 amThat CNN transcript in which Perle likens Hersh to a terrorist is remarkable. Colin Powell and John Warner lie through their teeth. Carl Levin is terrific. Then Perle gives the money quote when he says that nobody is talking about occupying Iraq for five to 10 years. Whether that was a lie or an admission of complete incompetence by the Pentagon will be debated for years.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:39 amRight wingers use fear to manipulate their cowardly base into supporting their illegal actions.
That is, by definition: TERRORISM.
Of course, terrorism only works on the terrified, which is why it ALWAYS works on the bedwetting cowardly right wingers.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:40 amGee, I hate to say I told you so.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:43 amLying greedy basturds like Perle are war profiteers of the lowest kind.
But, it’s not war profiteering and it’s not a punishable offense.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:51 amYeah, I’m 6′6″, 250 lbs. of muscle, and have had 10,000 women in the last five years.
Take a music class. Get some fresh tunes.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:58 amtrollsbwild Says:
Yeah, I’m 6?6?, 250 lbs. of muscle, and have had 10,000 women in the last five years.
WOWSA!!! I had no idea Rosie Palm had so many relatives :)~
July 29th, 2008 at 11:08 amWhy does his watch have two faces?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:16 amGary Stewart? ‘Your place or mine?’…
July 29th, 2008 at 11:24 amCall me a kid again and you’ll regret it. Sort of condescending don’t ya think?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:26 amWow, the crazy is thick today. Back on topic-is it wrong to hope for a brain tumor for this weasel?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:50 amAnd Jerry Garcia was a world class steel guitar and banjo player. Check out and of his Old and In The Way recordings.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:52 amAnother Perle formed by a speck of dirt.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:53 amI’ve already written my congressman to let him know that he has to prove to me that he’s a ‘value add’ in the house or he’s getting kicked to the curb.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:53 amA few prophetic words from Dick Perle with my commentary:
“Dictatorships start wars because they need external enemies to exert internal control over their own people.”
(see: George W. Bush)
“If we just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely, and we don’t try to piece together clever diplomacy but just wage a total war, our children will sing great songs about us years from now.”
(whose children? The neocons and contractors?)
“Sometimes the things we have to do are objectionable in the eyes of others.”
July 29th, 2008 at 12:01 pm(Or some would say repugnant/illegal/immoral)
aww, guido is so easily impressed by inferior music (even if played by musicians that are ALSO capable of quality art)
must be another typical republican coward
such a little sissy
(btw, I played in a country band myself, but I was 13 and soon outgrew it musically)
I have several solo albums out and have reformed my jazz quartet at the request of the label to produce another album, this time supported by a tour.
The point is: I can play advanced music and I don’t have to sink to playing music for the lowest common denominator to make a living (like Toby Keith and most country “musicians”).
Jazz fans generally know a LOT more about music than country fans. And I’m talking about MUSIC, not who played with who on what (that’s just trivia)
July 29th, 2008 at 12:13 pmPerle: “If … we don’t try to piece together clever diplomacy but just wage a total war, our children will sing great songs about us years from now.”
Jesus, what a maniac. Not only does he think the taxpayers should destroy a country so he can steal its resources, but he expects to be eternally lauded in song for these activities.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:29 pmAnd a most profitable business it is! BP joined ConocoPhillips in announcing record profits for the second quarter.
http://peureport.blogspot.com/2008/07/bp-stands-for-bully-purchaser-and.html
Chuck the oil fompany executives and their Congressional facilitators!
July 29th, 2008 at 12:48 pmRepublican promise to Iraqi dissidents in 2002 :
“If you let us take your oil at a future date, We’ll whack that Saddam guy you hate”
July 29th, 2008 at 1:08 pmIt was not only about oil, it was about enforcing unregulated free market on Iraq which was exploited by western corporations. Oil is the biggest part of it though. If you haven’t already, read the Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein…it goes into a lot of detail about this.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:16 pmWith his dark eye sockets, Perle looks like he was Photoshopped by Fox News.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:39 pmGreat piece! As Chairman of the civilian panel (Defense Policy Board), Perle advocated the overthrow of the governments of Iraq, Syria and Iran.
Perle is closely associated with far-right Israeli militarists wanting to use the American war machine as a means of ensuring the security of Israel in the context of annexation of nearly half of the West Bank. This is a formula for catastrophe.
Perle discouraged peace between Israel and Syria, available for no cost apart from returning to the border that existed at the time of the war with Syria in 1967.
Perle wants a permanent, vastly expensive US military presence in Iraq, even though the great majority of Iraqis want the US to leave ASAP. Protecting private oil deals is the name of the game, and the American taxpayer gets hosed.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:57 pmGAWD!!!! Another NeoCon making money off the clusterfu(k in the ME! Who’da thunk????
July 29th, 2008 at 2:38 pmGang of thugs.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:50 pmDefinition: Free Market – where the combined resources of the US military are used to open up contracts for your company.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:55 pmPerle was a founding member of PNAC.
(Their 2000 document said) “what was needed for America to dominate much of humanity and the world’s resources, it said, was “some catastrophic and catalysing event – like a new Pearl Harbor”. The attacks of 11 September 2001 provided the “new Pearl Harbor”.” ——John Pilger
July 30th, 2008 at 2:17 am