Richard Perle is an American public servant and political commentator known for his work as an Assistant Secretary of Defense and his influence on U.S. defense policy. His advocacy on national security issues and his writings on political strategy have made him a prominent figure in American political discourse. Perle's career reflects a focus on shaping defense and foreign policy from a conservative perspective.

"George Tenet has been the director of central intelligence since 1997, time enough to have changed the Agency's culture. He has failed. He should go."



"We must do our utmost to preserve our British ally's strategic independence from Europe."



"Dictators must have enemies. They must have internal enemies to justify their secret police and external enemies to justify their military forces."



"Few governments in the world, for example, praise human rights more ardently than does the government of France, and few have a worse record of supporting tyrants and killers."



"National sovereignty is an obligation as well as an entitlement. A government that will not perform the role of a government forfeits the rights of a government."


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"We may be so eager to protect the right to dissent that we lose sight of the difference between dissent and subversion."



"No operational commander should have to assign a soldier a task that could be done as well by a computer, a remote sensor, or an unmanned airplane."



"We should force European governments to choose between Paris and Washington."

