One of the Pentagon’s most hawkish advisors, Richard Perle, has quietly resigned his post on the Defense Policy Board. He was a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq and had spent 17 years on the board. He was seen by some as an election year liability to President Bush. Perle wrote in his resignation letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, “We are now approaching a long presidential election campaign, in the course of which issues on which I have strong views will be widely discussed and debated. I would not wish those views to be attributed to you or the president at any time, and especially not during a presidential campaign.” Perle has called for the expansion of the so-called war on terror to target North Korea and Iran. He has said France should be treated as an enemy. He has called for the US to pull out of the United Nations. And he has been a fierce critic of the CIA and State Department.