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Fri Feb 6,12:26 AM ET
By Larry Fine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Vice President Al Gore on Thursday accused President Bush of abusing the trust of Americans by playing on their fears as he led the United States to war against Iraq.
Gore, who lost the contested 2000 presidential election to Bush, said that like most Americans he rallied behind Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks, trusting his claims of ties between Iraq and al Qaeda extremists blamed for the attacks and taking his word that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
But Bush's decision to enter into a war with Iraq was taken under "patently false pretenses," Gore said in a keynote address at a conference at the New School University.
"Fear was activated on Sept. 11 for all of us," he said. "And it was exploitable for a variety of purposes unrelated to the initial cause of fear."
Gore said the Bush administration had no scruples about using fear of terrorists as a means "to punch holes in the basic protections of the Constitution, to create a class of permanent prisons and to make it possible to imprison American citizens without due process."
On international relations, Gore said "the administration has willingly traded in respect for the United States in favor of fear." The normal debate over policy that takes place in a healthy democracy was muted after Sept. 11, he said.
"At a time of great vulnerability we placed our trust in President Bush," said Gore, who recalled addressing the Iowa Democratic convention in the autumn of 2001.
"I had a different sort of message prepared but in the aftermath of the tragedy, I said 'George W. Bush is my president. I will follow him in this time of crisis.'
"I was one of millions who asked him to lead us wisely and well, and he abused the trust of the people by exploiting the fears of the American people in order to take this nation on an adventure that had been preordained before the attacks of Sept. 11 ever took place."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040206/pl_nm/campaign_gore_dc_1
I want to emphasize this paragraph since this point is what I think that most folks here are most interested in:
Gore said the Bush administration had no scruples about using fear of terrorists as a means "to punch holes in the basic protections of the Constitution, to create a class of permanent prisons and to make it possible to imprison American citizens without due process."
By Larry Fine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Vice President Al Gore on Thursday accused President Bush of abusing the trust of Americans by playing on their fears as he led the United States to war against Iraq.
Gore, who lost the contested 2000 presidential election to Bush, said that like most Americans he rallied behind Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks, trusting his claims of ties between Iraq and al Qaeda extremists blamed for the attacks and taking his word that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
But Bush's decision to enter into a war with Iraq was taken under "patently false pretenses," Gore said in a keynote address at a conference at the New School University.
"Fear was activated on Sept. 11 for all of us," he said. "And it was exploitable for a variety of purposes unrelated to the initial cause of fear."
Gore said the Bush administration had no scruples about using fear of terrorists as a means "to punch holes in the basic protections of the Constitution, to create a class of permanent prisons and to make it possible to imprison American citizens without due process."
On international relations, Gore said "the administration has willingly traded in respect for the United States in favor of fear." The normal debate over policy that takes place in a healthy democracy was muted after Sept. 11, he said.
"At a time of great vulnerability we placed our trust in President Bush," said Gore, who recalled addressing the Iowa Democratic convention in the autumn of 2001.
"I had a different sort of message prepared but in the aftermath of the tragedy, I said 'George W. Bush is my president. I will follow him in this time of crisis.'
"I was one of millions who asked him to lead us wisely and well, and he abused the trust of the people by exploiting the fears of the American people in order to take this nation on an adventure that had been preordained before the attacks of Sept. 11 ever took place."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040206/pl_nm/campaign_gore_dc_1
I want to emphasize this paragraph since this point is what I think that most folks here are most interested in:
Gore said the Bush administration had no scruples about using fear of terrorists as a means "to punch holes in the basic protections of the Constitution, to create a class of permanent prisons and to make it possible to imprison American citizens without due process."
