“One thing that has always struck me is Gore’s silence on the war in Iraq.”
He’s made a lot of comments.
What is interesting is so few people seem interested in bringing up his CSPAN interview during the final pre-invasion UN inspection period when he reacted to the question “Do you think Iraq has WMDs and is developing a nuclear program?” with a look of mild disbelief, and asserted “Well, of course he has WMDs, although the extent of his nuclear program is questionable…”
This is my second favorite disclosure, the first being on Meet the Press when Madeleine Albright had been busy dissembling about Osama bin Laden being captured already and the Administration lying about WMDs when ol’ Russert whips out a video and say, “Oh really? Well take a look at our monitor there…” upon which appeared Ms. Albright from 1999 wailing about Saddam’s WMDs in exactly the same fashion as Bush & Co.
At which Madeleine visibly blushed and commented through nervous laughter that “well things are very difficult when you’re in that position and it’s very easy for me to sit here…”
Yeah, shut your mouth Madeleine.
Oh and cf. that invasion plan by General Zinni developed in 1999 which concluded that even 400,000 troops could not guarantee the kind of Asiatic jockeying for tribal power that we witness on television. The present problems of Iraq have nothing to do with troop levels or after-invasion planning, and everything to do with the nature of the problem of a pre-modern Middle East – one that’s made wealthy enough by oil revenue from All the rest of the post-industrialized world to buy, for example, contemporary weapons infrastructure and capabilities. Does this really not seem to be a problem to those in the anti-war camp?
The fact is, the opposition has this entire time indulged in the most unsophisticated, uncritical and nearly treasonous kind of “opposition” – namely, say No! to everything to which your opponent says Yes, while destroying him with relentless and vicious ad hominem.
I think I may never vote Democrat again. It’s one thing to be an arse about a president’s ex-marital Oval Office trysts, it’s another thing entirely to regard 9/11 and the revelations it provided about the actual state of things in the Middle East as an opportunity to stick it to Chimpy – and the entire US military, and indeed the entire history and character of the country.
Shameful – and humiliating to have them as the present political opposition in my country.
