Al Gore is proud of the UN, no doubt.
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“AFTER SEPT. 11, we had enormous sympathy, goodwill and support around the world,” Gore said. “We’ve squandered that, and in one year we’ve replaced that with fear, anxiety and uncertainty, not at what the terrorists are going to do but at what we are going to do.” In his first major speech on the Iraq situation, the once and possibly future Democratic presidential candidate accused Bush of abandoning the goal of a world where nations follow laws. “That concept would be displaced by the notion that there is no law but the discretion of the president of the United States,” he said.   Latest news on U.S. stance on Iraq “If other nations assert the same right, then the rule of law will quickly be replaced by the reign of fear,” and any nation that perceives itself threatened would feel justified in starting wars, he said. |
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In one of the strongest Democratic broadsides yet launched against U.S. moves toward an attack on Iraq, Gore said such an attack would cost U.S. taxpayers “hundreds of billions of dollars,” leave Iraq dangerously unstable and destroy the international goodwill the United States has sought to build since the Sept. 11 attacks. Gore acknowledged the danger from Iraq but said the United States should build an international coalition for a unified front against Saddam Hussein. “If you are going after Jesse James, you ought to organize the posse first,” Gore said. He added, “We should focus first and foremost on our top priority — winning the war against terrorism.” GORE CALLED ‘IRRELEVANT’ A senior White House official called the former vice president “irrelevant,” saying that “no one around here is remotely concerned about what he has to say” on the subject of war with Iraq, NBC’s Campbell Brown reported. “He is out of the mainstream with his own party,” the official said. |
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 White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, “The president has unified the nation. People are rallying to the president’s position. And the president will continue to try to unify the nation even if it appears there are splits forming in the Democratic Party.” |
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Gore told an enthusiastic Commonwealth Club crowd he would decide in December whether to challenge President Bush again for the presidency in 2004. Gore has consistently supported overthrowing Saddam and was one of the few Senate Democrats who voted in favor of the Gulf War resolution after Iraq attacked Kuwait in 1990. He said he felt betrayed by the first President Bush’s “hasty withdrawal from the battlefield.” But like other leading Democrats, Gore has expressed reservations in recent months about military action against Iraq, suggesting the diplomatic costs would be extremely high. OMINOUS CONSEQUENCES His speech Monday was much more critical, warning of ominous and untold consequences, ranging from a short-term power vacuum that could increase the danger of chemical and biological attacks, to the creation of legions of enemies angry and fearful about U.S. domination. “If we end the war in Iraq the way we ended the war in Afghanistan, we could easily be worse off than we are today,” Gore said. Gore described his speech as an effort to lay out an alternative to the course of action pursued by the Bush administration. Even before securing U.N. support for a multinational war against Iraq, Bush asked Congress to approve the use of “all means that he determines to be appropriate, including force,” in a unilateral effort to topple Saddam. |
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Gore urged Congress not to give the president such a broad mandate. “It needs to be narrowed,” said Gore, adding that Congress should urge Bush to go back to the U.N. Security Council and secure the “broadest possible international support” for a regime change in Iraq. Meanwhile, Gore said, “Bush should not allow anything to distract us from the mission of avenging the murder of 3,000 Americans.” CARTER CRITICIZES BUSH Also Monday, former President Carter criticized Bush’s stance on Iraq, saying military action without the blessing of the United Nations would be a grave mistake that would put the United States in danger. “I’m quite concerned” about the White House’s pursuit of Saddam Hussein without the support of many of its allies from the Persian Gulf War, Carter said after a speech at the University of Virginia. “It is a radical departure from traditions that have shaped our nation’s policy by Democratic and Republican presidents for more than 50 years,” Carter told reporters. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
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Gore rips Bush's approach on Iraq
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