An End to Evil? (3)

Libya: Regime change, probably through US military invasion, more-or-less immediately. The book doesn't address the recent Libyan agreement on "weapons of mass destruction." But Perle presumably had some knowledge of the progress that had been made over many months. Yet they write, "The illusion that Muammar al-Qaddafi is 'moderating' should be treated as what it is: a symptom of the seemingly incurable wishful delusions that afflict the accommodationists in the foreign policy establishment." (p. 117)

North Korea: If they don't immediately agree to American terms on nuclear disarmament, blockade them and prepare for military strikes on their nuclear facilities.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Give up the idea that any solution is possible except one imposed by force on the part of Israel. Don't worry about the Israeli settlements policy or the "security fence."

Saudi Arabia: We should treat Saudi Arabia as a more-or-less hostile power. Don't worry about them being the keepers of the holy cities of Islam or any of that kind of thing. The US should "ponder" trying to break off the oil-rich eastern and largely Shiite part of the kingdom from the rest. "Independence for the Eastern Province would obviously be a catastrophic outcome for the Saudi state. But it might be a very good outcome for the United States." (p. 141)

The US government: Give the FBI's antiterrorism function to the Department of Homeland Security. Give the CIA's clandestine operations function to Donald Rumsfeld's Department of Defense. Make the US military even more focused on airpower. Make the essential function of the State Department to promote the partisan positions of the Presidential party and stop worrying much about the information they may provide about the positions of foreign governments.

Perhaps it's worth emphasizing again that Frum and Perle are not obscure academics from some rightwing think-tank burning up money from wealthy donors. Frum was until very recently a Presidential speechwriter. Perle remains one of the most influential formulators of foreign and military policy in the United States.

Tags: an endto evil, david frum, richard perle