WASHINGTON, 31 January 2004 — “What is good for Israel is good for the United States.” This is a unique perspective held by a group of very powerful US government officials, advisers and influential media pundits. This phrase was featured in the introduction to a book which was published 20 years ago titled “The Armageddon Network.” This book featured an incident that happened over 25 years ago which started a quest for truth and justice in America’s relationship with Israel and other countries in the Middle East.
This book highlights the early careers of Stephen Bryan and Richard Perle, one of the most powerful neoconservatives in the US today and focuses on Perle and his network of friends and associates who often promote an “Israel-first” policy in the United States of America.
Let me quote from the introduction. “Perle and Bryen are leading hawks in a very hawkish administration.” They push more guns, bombs and missiles as the mainstay of their hard-line policies. The problem is that this promises to exacerbate tensions in an already unstable Middle East. The region seems more like a time bomb waiting to explode. Promoting US military “strategic cooperation” with Israel rather than negotiation reminds me of Carl Sagan’s story about “walking into a room full of gasoline and lighting a match.’”
By now most of us have become familiar with the terms “neoconservative” and “chicken hawk.” These are words often used to refer to those in power throughout the US government and the American media whose foremost advocacy is for the good of Israel. Some say this group not only advocates for Israel as such but for the Likud Party of Israel and beyond that, many of the neoconservatives feel that Ariel Sharon is too much of a dove.
While researching for “The Armageddon Network” a quarter of a century ago, the same names and organizations appeared over and over again. Not only did we see the names of Richard Perle, Stephen Bryen, Elliot Abrams, Ken Adelman and Michael Ledeen (and their wives) but we also noted organizations such as the Coalition for a Democratic Majority (CDM) and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA).
The Coalition for a Democratic Majority was founded in 1973 by a group of hawkish Democrats led by Sen. Henry Jackson of the state of Washington. One of the early advocates of CDM was Norman Podhoretz. Podhoretz had been a leader of liberal political views. In the early 1970s however, he had become disenchanted with the orthodox liberals who favored cuts in military spending and pointed out the relationship between a strong United States military machine and the future of Israel.
Podhoretz enlisted Sen. Henry Jackson and his key staff member, Richard Perle. Perle and Stephen Bryen were close friends and associates on Capitol Hill. “The Armageddon Network” concentrated on Bryen who, while he was a Senate staffer, was investigated for espionage with Israel. Bryen and Perle had an additional network of Congressional friends who were both hawkish and very pro-Israel. They were ideal neoconservatives. Remember we are talking here about individuals and incidents of over 25 years ago. Yet these same individuals and organizations are very powerful players in today’s American political and international scene.
After Bryen left his Senate job in 1978, he was eventually named the executive director and newsletter editor of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. JINSA began as a study group in 1976 and became fully operational in December 1979 when Bryen was put in charge. JINSA’s specialty was developing the relationship between America and Israel security needs. JINSA advocated America strengthening its military capability and tying this capability to that of Israel. They emphasized that America and Israel needed to work together for common interests, particularly in the Middle East. In other words, “What was good for Israel was good for the United States.”
In 1984 “The Armageddon Network” stated, “While JINSA’s articles covered many subjects, one central idea emerged from it’s editorials: The need for a US military presence in the Middle East.” Bryen stayed with JINSA for some time and eventually returned to US government service as an official in the Reagan Defense Department. He was appointed to that position by none other than Richard Perle who after leaving Jackson’s Senate staff formed a defense— oriented consulting firm called the Abington Corporation with John Lehman who later became the secretary of the navy in the Reagan administration. Perle became an assistant secretary of defense and hired Bryen to be a defense technology transfer specialist. Lehman is currently serving as a member of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 incidents. Perle presently serves on the Defense Policy Board and Bryen is an appointee to the US-China Commission. Lehman, Perle and Bryen all allegedly are required to have US government top secret security clearances to serve on those boards.
The Coalition for a Democratic Majority was a breeding ground for many of today’s powerful neoconservatives. And JINSA continues until today to be a powerful influence on America’s international policies.
JINSA is a $1.4 million yearly organization with a very influential board of advisers. Those advisers include Vice President Richard Cheney; Douglas Feith, third ranking official in the Defense Department and a former business associate of Richard Perle; and John Bolton, a high ranking official in the State Department. Present members of the JINSA board of advisers include Richard Perle; Michael Ledeen, the liaison with the Israelis in Oliver North’s Iran-Contra scheme; James Woolsey, the CIA director in Bill Clinton’s administration and Jeane Kirkpatrick, the US ambassador to the UN under Ronald Reagan. Also on their board is their former executive director, Stephen Bryen. Bryen’s wife, Shoshana Bryen, serves as JINSA’s special projects director.
Retired US Gen. Jay Garner who acted as the American military coordinator in Iraq cosigned an October 2000 JINSA letter blaming the Palestinian Authority for ongoing violence in Israel and praising the Israel Armed Forces for having exercised “remarkable restraint” in the face of “lethal violence” from the Palestinian Authority. Garner allegedly maintains a close relationship with JINSA.
For many years “The Armageddon Network” has remained on the shelf but now many of its characters come back to haunt us. And they have added to their cast of characters other powerful individuals such as Paul Wolfowitz, second in command at the US Department of Defense and Frank Gaffney and his organization, the Center for Security Policy. We shall continue to trace these connections and the effects that they have on the Middle East equation today in future articles
— Dr. Michael Saba is the author of “The Armageddon Network” and is an international relations consultant.
