Why Richard Perle Fought U.S. Détente With The Soviet Union

This 1997 George Washington University interview with Mr. Perle provides insights into why Perle believes Israel and the United States share the same destiny.


"Interviewer: The Yom Kippur War of 1973 followed very sharply after the Watergate Committee hearings. You have a particular view of the importance of Israel in relation to American interests, what exactly is that view?

Richard Perle: We believed very strongly that Israel was the only country in the Middle East with whom we could identify philosophically and in terms of values. that the Israelis were willing and basically able to defend themselves if they got diplomatic and political and eventually some financial support from the United States. That they were a bulwark against the expansion of the Soviet Union in the region, although we recognized that they were also invoked as a justification for the involvement of the Soviet Union in the region. But there was no other ally that we could turn to who was as consistent and reliable as Israel, and in any event, we thought that we could not conceive of standing by if Israel was extinguished by totalitarian forces around them. So it wasn't a difficult conclusion to come to, we were very much for Israel and for strengthening Israel and for off-setting, if we could, the influence and the real power that the Soviets acquired in the region, by virtue of its forging something of an anti-Israeli alliance."

Entire 1997 interview:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-19/perle1.html