[Source: Wash Post, March 14, 2003, "Perle Threatens Lawsuit
Over Hersh Article in New Yorker," by Howard Kurtz.]

The well-documented charges prompted Perle to go ballistic
on last Sunday's CNN Late Edition, where he called Hersh
"the closest thing to a terrorist in American journalism,"
and to next announce that he would sue Hersh for slander -- in a British court.

The controversy afforded Kurtz the opportunity to publish a
half-page summary of the Hersh story, with the juicy quotes from
Saudi Ambassador, Prince Bandar, and Perle's own admission that
the Marseilles luncheon with Adnan Khashoggi and a second Saudi
businessman did take place Jan. 3 of this year. Perle's claims
that "no business" matters were discussed is quite a stretch.

And {Salon} magazine columnist Joe Conason was trotted out to
declare, that Perle "arguably should be required to resign" from
the Defense Policy Board "because of his gross intemperate public
attack on Hersh," not to mention the alleged "sheikdown".

Commenting on the {New Yorker} story, a well-placed
Washington intelligence source, who confirmed that Saudi Amb.
Prince Bandar had been circulating details about the Perle
Marseilles incident for weeks prior to the Hersh story
appearance, noted that, if Perle resigns, there will be a
well-justified groundswell of demands that Vice President Cheney
do the same.

His recently revealed $1 million a year continuing
escrow payments from Halliburton, which is bidding on billions of
dollars in post-war Iraq reconstruction contracts and other
war-zone projects, is a much more {prima facie} case of
appearance of corruption than Perle's luncheon soire in Marseilles.