Center Releases Expanded Case Against The Halperin Nomination As Debate Begins On The Next ‘Lani Guinier’

(Washington, D.C.): The Center for Security Policy today released a second, still more comprehensive White Paper outlining "The Case Against the Halperin Nomination." The first edition was sent on 2 August to President Clinton and key members of his staff — and subsequently released to the public — in response to published reports that the President wanted personally to review Morton Halperin’s "most controversial writings" before seeking Senate confirmation of Halperin to a senior Pentagon post.

Remarkably, having presumably done so, Mr. Clinton decided on 6 August to proceed with the nomination. The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to hold hearings on Halperin’s candidacy for the position of Assistant Secretary for Democracy and Peacekeeping later this month.

In anticipation of those hearings, the Center has substantially expanded the first edition’s compilation of quotes drawn from Halperin’s years of public advocacy on behalf of various extreme left-wing national security agendas. These citations illustrate a highly consistent record of poor judgment evident in the nominee’s:

• failure to grasp the offensive nature and gravity of the threat posed by the Soviet Union and its proxies during the Cold War;

 

• attachment to the idea of subordinating U.S. military power and force projection options to the will — and, effectively, to the operational authority — of multilateral organizations like the U.N.;

 

• irresponsible and extraordinarily broad-gauge opposition to secret government activities (ranging from clandestine collection of intelligence to covert operations to protection of undercover agents’ identities to classification of information); and

 

• defense of such dubious characters as Daniel Ellsberg, CIA turncoat Philip Agee and the Progressive Magazine following its publication of detailed instructions for making hydrogen bombs.

The White Paper issued today also features well-documented rebuttals to published comments being circulated by the Defense Department and others on Halperin’s behalf. It offers evidence that powerfully contests efforts now being made to revise the Halperin record in four general areas: Halperin’s "confirmation conversion" claim that he has not opposed all covert operations and clandestine intelligence activities; that he did not "aid and abet" Agee; that he supports secrecy in government; and that he did not play any role in the illegal disclosure of the Pentagon Papers.

Copies of The Case Against the Halperin Nomination: Expanded Readings from Morton Halperin’s Collected Works and Rebuttals to Halperin’s Defense may be obtained by contacting the Center.