Students To Protest Defense Official’s Visit

When Douglas J. Feith ’75, the third-ranking official in the Department of Defense and a controversial architect of the war in Iraq, arrives at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) to make a speech today, he will be greeted by a group of student protesters.

Feith, who currently serves as undersecretary of defense for policy, will deliver a speech titled, “The War on Terrorism” at Harvard’s Institute of Politics at 8 p.m. tonight.

Feith’s appearance has elicited an outcry from a number of students on campus, who are organizing a pre-speech protest to voice their disapproval.

Michael A. Gould-Wartofsky ’07, an organizer of the protest, said he expects to see dozens of students at the protest from his organization—the Harvard Social Forum (HSF)—and also representatives from the Society of Arab Students, the Progressive Jewish Alliance, and a newly formed coalition called “Harvard No War.”

“We don’t think he should be welcome at Harvard,” said Gould-Wartofsky, who is also a Crimson editor. “He is a disgrace to all of the values that we as Americans and Harvard students ought to stand for.”

Paloma A. Zepeda ’06, spokeswoman for the Harvard Republican Club (HRC)—a co-sponsor of Feith’s appearance—said that while her organization respects student dissent on campus, it thinks Feith has the right to speak his case.

“The HRC feels he is a prominent figure and whether one agrees or disagrees, it’s important to understand the decision-making processes that led to war,” she said.

Zepeda said that by protesting, students are hindering discussion of an important issue.

“It’s troubling when members of an academic community feel it’s necessary to silence an opinion with which they disagree,” Zepeda said.

Feith has come under heavy criticism over the past few years for his role in coordinating the U.S. strategy in the war on terror and his involvement in the Office of Special Plans (OSP)—a governmental office created during his tenure designed to examine intelligence.

Critics have also condemned Feith and others at the Department of Defense for instituting neoconservative policies at the Pentagon. In January, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh blasted Feith in an article for the New Yorker for allegedly aiding an effort to launch a U.S. military intervention in Iran. The Pentagon has denied the charges.

Feith has recently made public his intentions to leave the government this summer, citing “personal and family reasons,” according to a Pentagon press release.

During the Reagan administration, Feith acted as special counsel to then-Assistant Defense Secretary Richard Perle. His first administration job was as a Middle East specialist in the National Security Council in 1981, and he was appointed to serve as deputy assistant secretary of defense in 1984.

Feith is third-in-command after Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz. President Bush appointed him to the post in July 2001.

—Staff writer Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernand@fas.harvard.edu.