Credit for Israel Report Clarified
The Sept. 4 news story by Robin Wright and Dan Eggen, "Leak Inquiry Includes Iran Experts in Administration," incorrectly referred to me as co-author of a 1996 paper produced by the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies.
"A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" was written soon after Binyamin Netanyahu became prime minister of Israel and five years before I reentered the U.S. government in my current job.
It offered ideas on how Israel, in cooperation with the United States, could achieve security and, ultimately, peace in the Middle East.
Its introductory paragraph said, "The main substantive ideas in this paper emerge from a discussion in which prominent opinion makers, including [myself] participated." Thus, there is no warrant for attributing any particular idea, let alone all of them, to any one participant.
David Wurmser, as the group's rapporteur, drafted the report. There were no co-authors, and the discussion participants were not asked to clear the final text of the paper. Further, the report was not commissioned by Mr. Netanyahu.
DOUGLAS J. FEITH
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy
Defense Department
Washington
