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== Education ==

== Education ==

Richard Perle grew up in [[Los Angeles]], attended Hollywood High School, and then the [[London School of Economics]], received a BA in English from the University of Southern California in 1964, and received his MA in political science from Princeton University in 1967.  Richard Perle once dated [[Albert Wohlstetter]]'s daughter, Joan Wohlstetter.  Albert Wohlstetter also introduced Richard Perle to his then student [[Paul Wolfowitz]].

Richard Perle grew up in [[Los Angeles]], attended Hollywood High School, and then the [[London School of Economics]], received a BA in English from the University of Southern California in 1964, and received his MA in political science from [[Princeton University]] in 1967.  Richard Perle once dated [[Albert Wohlstetter]]'s daughter, Joan Wohlstetter.  Albert Wohlstetter also introduced Richard Perle to his then student [[Paul Wolfowitz]].

== Iraq ==

== Iraq ==

[[Image:Out.png|right|thumb|Richard Perle as a teenager with his parents.]]

[[Image:Out.png|right|thumb|Richard Perle as a teenager with his parents.]]

Perle has a longstanding interest in the problem of [[Iraq]] and Saddam Hussein.  In 1998, he co-signed a letter from [[PNAC]] to then-President [[Bill Clinton]]; it called on the President to "implement[] a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power" and noted that "[t]his will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts."<ref name="PNAC">[http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm Letter to Bill Clinton from the Project for the New American Century]</ref>  The letter also argued that [[Saddam Hussein]]'s development of WMDs  would result in grave risk to [[Israel]], American troops in the region, moderate Arab states, and the world's oil supply.

Perle has a longstanding interest in the problem of [[Iraq]] and [[Saddam Hussein]].  In 1998, he co-signed a letter from [[PNAC]] to then-President [[Bill Clinton]]; it called on the President to "implement[] a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power" and noted that "[t]his will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts."<ref name="PNAC">[http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm Letter to Bill Clinton from the Project for the New American Century]</ref>  The letter also argued that [[Saddam Hussein]]'s development of WMDs  would result in grave risk to [[Israel]], American troops in the region, moderate Arab states, and the world's oil supply.

Shortly after [[9/11]], Perle pressed for action against Saddam Hussein and Iraq.  He maintained that Iraq was involved in terrorism, that there were documentable ties between [[Saddam Hussein]] and [[Osama bin Laden]], and that a primary goal of the [[war on terror]] should be to topple Saddam.  He said that terrorists should be pursued "even if we cannot prove to the standards that we enjoy in our own civil society"--presumably proof beyond a reasonable doubt, as is done in criminal trials--"that they were involved." <ref name="CNN916">[http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/16/en.00.html CNN interview with Richard Perle on 9/16/2001]</ref>

Shortly after [[9/11]], Perle pressed for action against Saddam Hussein and Iraq.  He maintained that Iraq was involved in terrorism, that there were documentable ties between [[Saddam Hussein]] and [[Osama bin Laden]], and that a primary goal of the [[war on terror]] should be to topple Saddam.  He said that terrorists should be pursued "even if we cannot prove to the standards that we enjoy in our own civil society"--presumably proof beyond a reasonable doubt, as is done in criminal trials--"that they were involved." <ref name="CNN916">[http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/16/en.00.html CNN interview with Richard Perle on 9/16/2001]</ref>