.   

The 'Clean Break' Plan: Implications for US Middle East Policy 
"A Clean Break, A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" is an ambitious 1996 Middle East policy paper. A Clean Break recommended toppling the government of Iraq, "rolling back" Syria and Iran, and "electrifying" support for Israel in the US Congress in exchange for new missile defense contract opportunities. Three of the eight authors have since become prominent policymakers in the U.S. government. The study leader, Richard Perle, is the former chair and a current member of the Defense Policy Board of the Pentagon. Douglas Feith is Undersecretary of Defense and David Wurmser is Vice President Richard Cheney's recently hired Middle East advisor.

But what is "A Clean Break?" What are the plan's core assumptions? How has it affected US regional policy? What insights does it reveal about US policy initiatives in the Middle East? How do Arab countries perceive current US regional policy? Are Clean Break assumptions and strategies beneficial to US interests? What are the potential costs? The IRmep Capitol Hill Forum took place on Wednesday, November 26th 2003 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in the Gold Room of the Rayburn Congressional House Office Building. Our distinguished and diverse panel of experts and IRmep analysts   reviewed the implications of A Clean Break and took questions from the public. Panel members included Adam Shapiro of the International Solidarity Movement, former congressional candidate and Million Man March leader Dr. E. Faye Williams, Imad Moustapha, Charge d'Affaires of the Syrian Embassy; Khaled Dawoud, D.C. bureau chief of Al-Ahram; and Adib Farha, adviser of the Lebanese Minister of Finance and professor at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon.

Broadcast: C-Span: November 26, 2003