The Return Of A Defense Hawk

By Josh Tyrangiel Reported By Mark Thompson/Washington

As the closest thing the Pentagon had to Darth Vader during the Reagan years, Richard Perle, then an Assistant Secretary, was beloved by the right for his antipathy toward arms-control pacts and peaceniks in general. Now, just when conservatives are starting to grumble that Bush is going soft on defense, Perle is returning to the battlefield. Pentagon insiders say Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will soon promote Perle, previously an unpaid member of the 18-person Defense Policy Board, to board chairman. That will give him a Pentagon office in the gilt-edged E-ring, one floor away from Rumsfeld and better able to catch his ear should Perle find the Pentagon underfunded or slow in building a missile shield. So far, he has been uncharacteristically sunny. Says he: "Personally, I haven't seen anything to criticize."

--Reported by Mark Thompson/Washington