New
Questions About Feith
By
James Zogby
Washington
Watch,
May 13,
2001
Just one month ago, I wrote about President
Bush's nomination of Douglas Feith to the position of Undersecretary
of Policy at the Department of Defense (DOD/Pentagon). Because this
is one of the top four posts at the Pentagon in charge of "all
matters concerning the formulation of national security and defense
policy" and because Feith is an extreme hard-line pro-Likud hawk-I
called it a "Dangerous Appointment."
My earlier article focused on an examination of Feith's pro-Israel
writings. The body of his work reveals a strong ideological and
anti-Arab bias. I also noted his close association with the pro-Likud
groups, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and his law firm's
international work promoting the Israeli arms industry.
In recent weeks more information has surfaced about Feith's
activities that raise additional concerns about his nomination.
The first set of allegations are questions regarding Feith's
performance during his two previous periods of government service.
During the first Reagan Administration, Feith served under Richard
Allen on the White House National Security staff. It was Allen who
reportedly gave Israel the "green light" to undertake its devastating
1982 invasion of Lebanon.
When Allen was replaced at the White House by William Clark, Feith
was fired from his post. There were allegations, at the time, of his
bias toward and involvement with Israel.
During Reagan's second term, Feith resurfaced as part of Richard
Perle's team at the Pentagon. Perle is a notorious Cold War hawk and
a neo-conservative pro-Israel hard-liner. At the Pentagon he was
called, by friend and foe alike, the "Prince of Darkness." The team
of like-minded associates Perle assembled to work under him at the
DOD included not only Feith, but Steven Bryen. While serving as a
staffer to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the 1970s Bryen
was accused of passing U.S. military secrets to Israel. He was
removed from his post. A third member of the group was Frank Gaffney,
who has, like Feith, also produced an extensive body of virulently
anti-Arab writings in right wing U.S. newspapers and magazines.
During their tenure at the Pentagon, this group actively worked to
solidify the U.S.-Israel defense relationship at the expense of
U.S.-Arab ties. It has been alleged, for example, that Feith actively
worked to oppose President Reagan's decision to transfer AWACs to
Saudi Arabia.
Almost immediately upon leaving office, Perle and Feith teamed up to
sell their access as foreign lobbyists. One of their earliest clients
was the government of Turkey.
In 1989, Feith registered International Advisors Inc. (IAI) as a
foreign agent representing the government of Turkey. In official
documents, one of the stated purposes of the work of IAI was to
"promote the objective of U.S.-Turkish defense industrial
cooperation."
The move was heralded in the Turkish press as creating a "warmer
atmosphere" between Turkey and conservative members of Congress and
"the strong Jewish lobby in the United States." It was thought that
these relationships would help Turkey's military ties and sales to
the United States. IAI was described in both the United States and
Turkish press as Perle's brainchild. The Wall Street Journal,
reported in early 1989 on the creation of IAI as follows:
"Richard Perle, who among other things supervised U.S. military
assistance to Turkey during his recent seven-year hitch in the
Pentagon, has created a company in Washington to lobby for Turkey.
The company, International Advisors Inc., is headed by three men,
including two who worked under Mr. Perle at the Defense Department.
According to a statement the company filed with the Justice
Department, it will 'assist in the efforts for the appropriation of
U.S. military and economic assistance' to Turkey."
Perle, however disputed this claim saying that IAI was not his group.
He claimed that he was merely an "advisor." He further noted "I find
very distasteful this business where people leave the government and
the next thing you know, they're on the other side of the table
negotiating with the U.S."
And in a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, Perle
elaborated his position by stating "I have not created a company to
lobby for Turkey….The firm to which the story refers,
International Advisors, Inc., was created by Douglas Feith, a
Washington attorney. I am not a stockholder, director, officer or
employee of the firm. I will not lobby for nor represent the
government of Turkey. I will chair an advisory board that is only now
being formed."
In fact, in the official documents filed with the U.S. Department of
Justice, Criminal Division, Foreign Agents Registration Unit, Douglas
Feith is listed as the Chief Executive Officer of IAI and its only
stockholder.
However, in semiannual reports filed by IAI during its 1989-1994
tenure, Richard Perle is listed as the single highest paid consultant
to the group earning $48,000 each year. Feith, himself earned $60,000
per year and his law firm, Feith and Zell, received hundreds of
thousands of dollars from IAI.
What is most disturbing in all of this, of course, is, as Perle
himself observed, the "distastefulness" of this business where
"people leave the government and the next thing you know, they're on
the other side of the table negotiating with the U.S."
That Perle was being disingenuous about his role in IAI and
indirectly setting up his former colleague and now "partner" as the
"distasteful" one, raises serious questions about both
individuals.
What is also troubling is the fact that during the almost six years
that Feith and IAI were officially registered as Foreign Agents for
the Government of Turkey, Feith and a number of individuals serving
as staff and receiving payments from IAI were making tens of
thousands of dollars of contributions to both pro-Israel PACs and
pro-Israel Senators and Congressmen. In records filed with the
Federal Election Commission, Feith himself contributed more than
$15,000 during this period, sometimes listing IAI, a foreign agent,
as his place of employment.
The one pro-Israel PAC to which Feith contributed $3,500, Washington
Political Action Committee, just so happened to be headed by Morris
Amitay, former AIPAC official and one of the earliest members of
IAI!
Two of the single largest recipients of this largesse were Senator
Robert Packwood and Congressman Dan Burton. In an article published
in 1997, in the Charleston Daily Mail, Burton was accused of having
his position on several foreign policy issues influenced by campaign
contributions from foreign agents. The article specifically cites
Feith giving this example: "A strong supporter of Turkey, Burton took
to the House floor June 5 to denounce efforts to cut off all U.S. aid
to the country [Turkey] because of human rights criticism.
'Let me give my colleagues some facts about Turkey and about the
Armenia problem,' Burton said as he launched into a historical
account. The speech went on, citing almost word for word material
distributed to members of Congress by Capitoline, Turkey's lobbying
firm. For several years, when the firm of former President Regan aide
Douglas Feith was paid $600,000 a year to lobby for Turkey, Feith's
office had regular contact with Burton and his aides. Feith gave
donations to a handful of lawmakers over the years, including at
least $2,250 to Burton."
More recently, Feith and Perle teamed up to represent another foreign
entity, the government of Bosnia. According to Richard Holbrooke, the
principal U.S. negotiator at the Dayton peace talks, Perle and Feith
worked for and advised the Bosnians during the talks. This time,
however, they did not register with the Department of Justice, as
foreign agents are required to do.
It should also be recalled that both Perle and Feith worked together
in 1996 to prepare the document "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for
Securing the Realm" that advised the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on what issues to raise and what language to use during his
first visit to the United States in July of that year.
Now, it must be said that while (as Perle acknowledges) this might
all be distasteful, and in the case of the PAC contributions, at
least, questionable, none of it is illegal. But it does raise serious
questions about the fitness of Mr. Feith to serve as the
Undersecretary of Defense in charge of developing "policy on the
conduct of alliances and defense relationships with foreign
governments, their military establishments and international
organizations;" and developing, coordinating and overseeing "the
implementation of international security strategy and policy…on
issues…that relate to foreign governments and their defense
establishment."
For comments, contact jzogby@aaiusa.org.
Washington
Watch is a weekly policy column by Arab American Institute
President, Dr. James Zogby. It appears every Monday in
over one dozen newspapers worldwide. Archives
are kept for a period of twelve (12) months.
