No escape from Bush/neocons

According to someone at The Corner, Gov. Perry in preparing for a presidential run has met with Bush Defense Department official Douglas Feith—whom the writer refers to as “Doug” Feith. Whoever is the GOP nominee, he or she is going to be a supporter of the Bush-Obama democratize-the-Muslims foreign policy.

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James R. writes:

Well, not that they have much of a shot, but Ron Paul and Gary Johnson would be a sharp break from Bush policies. I’m sure you have disagreements with them, but perhaps not as big as it may seem when it comes to the role of the Federal Government (which soils everything it touches when it comes to social and civic policies; and Rep. Paul at least is pro-Life). Like I said, though—not that they have much of a shot.

LA replies:

I’m not going to revisit the subject of Ron Paul. As for Gary Johnson, he’s a libertarian who supports homosexual “marriage.”

July 20

A reader writes:

Several years ago I wrote you that Feith is perhaps the biggest ass in Washington—which is saying plenty! He and neocon supreme Robert Kagan, both of whom I knew personally, give arrogance an even worse meaning than it already has.

General Tommy Franks, commander of the Iraq invasion, condemned Feith (then Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy, a job for which he was not qualified) as the “stupidest guy on the face of the earth.” Feith also came under sharp criticism for setting up a new intelligence office in the Pentagon, going around the CIA in order, allegedly, to slant or distort intelligence in favor of his aggressive policies.

For Perry to consult Feith to teach him foreign affairs does not say much for the good sense of Perry or his advisors. As is typically the case in politics and government, Feith probably was brought to Perry due to personal contacts. Could a business be run this way?

LA replies:

Years ago, on the basis of some things Feith had written, I said he seemed extraordinarily stupid, and I questioned how such a stupid person could be the sinister mastermind that many accused him of being.

LA continues:

Here are previous VFR entries discussing Feith:

In this 2007 entry, “Douglas Feith speaks!”, I describe him as “seriously dumb,” and add: “Put together Rice in the White House with Feith at Defense, and you’ve got enough thick-headedness to construct a Siegfried Wall.”

In this 2008 entry, “Feith is the key,” I discuss Feith’s dishonest attempt to dissociate himself from the Bush democracy policy.

In this 2006 entry I defend Feith from the paleocon charge of having a double standard on Israel and the U.S.

James P. writes:

Politico reports Rumsfeld organized Perry’s meeting with Feith and Luti:

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld helped organize Rick Perry’s foreign policy and national security briefing in Austin last Wednesday, Rumsfeld’s staff confirmed today.

Perry’s aides have been tight-lipped about the gathering, which National Review reported included former Rumsfeld aides Doug Feith, Daniel Fata, and William Luti, as well as the magazine’s Andrew McCarthy and others . But I’m told Rumsfeld helped steer Perry’s staff to the low-key advisory group, and his detainee adviser Cully Stimson was also invited, but couldn’t attend.

The connection was fortuitous: The two men know each other but don’t have a particularly close relationship; however Rumsfeld’s research director, Victoria Coates, has friends on Perry’s staff and made the connection.

Rumsfeld spokesman Keith Urbahn said in an emailed statement:

Gov. Perry’s staff recently reached out to our office for names of national security and foreign policy experts that Mr. Rumsfeld respects and trusts. To Mr. Rumsfeld’s knowledge, Gov. Perry’s staff selected the individuals who attended last week’s briefing in Austin, Texas.

Mr. Rumsfeld and Gov. Perry have not spoken or met recently, though Mr. Rumsfeld has met with a number of Republican presidential candidates over the past months. He is watching the current field with interest and is particularly interested in the candidates’ positions on foreign and national security policy and their prospects in winning in November 2012.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 18, 2011 09:23 AM | Send