N8 won't get past the first 2 lines....
Remarks by Al Gore
_ May 26, 2004
_
_
_ George W. Bush promised us a foreign policy with humility. Instead, he
has brought us humiliation in the eyes of the world.
_
_ He promised to "restore honor and integrity to the White House."
Instead, he has brought deep dishonor to our country and built a durable
reputation as the most dishonest_President since Richard Nixon.
_
_ Honor? He decided not to honor the Geneva Convention. Just as he would
not honor the United Nations, international treaties, the opinions of
our allies, the role of Congress and_the courts, or what Jefferson
described as "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind." He did not
honor the advice, experience and judgment of our military leaders in
designing_his invasion of Iraq. And now he will not honor our fallen
dead by attending any funerals or even by permitting photos of their
flag-draped coffins.
_
_ How did we get from September 12th , 2001, when a leading French
newspaper ran a giant headline with the words "We Are All Americans Now"
and when we had the good will_and empathy of all the world -- to the
horror that we all felt in witnessing the pictures of torture in Abu
Ghraib.
_
_ To begin with, from its earliest days in power, this administration
sought to radically destroy the foreign policy consensus that had guided
America since the end of World War II._The long successful strategy of
containment was abandoned in favor of the new strategy of "preemption."
And what they meant by preemption was not the inherent right of
any_nation to act preemptively against an imminent threat to its
national security, but rather an exotic new approach that asserted a
unique and unilateral U.S. right to ignore_international law wherever it
wished to do so and take military action against any nation, even in
circumstances where there was no imminent threat. All that is required,
in the view_of Bush's team is the mere assertion of a possible, future
threat - and the assertion need be made by only one person, the
President.
_
_ More disturbing still was their frequent use of the word "dominance"
to describe their strategic goal, because an American policy of
dominance is as repugnant to the rest of the_world as the ugly dominance
of the helpless, naked Iraqi prisoners has been to the American people.
Dominance is as dominance does.
_
_ Dominance is not really a strategic policy or political philosophy at
all. It is a seductive illusion that tempts the powerful to satiate
their hunger for more power still by striking a_Faustian bargain. And as
always happens - sooner or later - to those who shake hands with the
devil, they find out too late that what they have given up in the
bargain is their soul.
_
_ One of the clearest indications of the impending loss of intimacy with
one's soul is the failure to recognize the existence of a soul in those
over whom power is exercised, especially_if the helpless come to be
treated as animals, and degraded. We also know - and not just from De
Sade and Freud - the psychological proximity between sexual depravity
and other_people's pain. It has been especially shocking and awful to
see these paired evils perpetrated so crudely and cruelly in the name of
America.
_
_ Those pictures of torture and sexual abuse came to us embedded in a
wave of news about escalating casualties and growing chaos enveloping
our entire policy in Iraq. But in_order understand the failure of our
overall policy, it is important to focus specifically on what happened
in the Abu Ghraib prison, and ask whether or not those actions
were_representative of who we are as Americans? Obviously the quick
answer is no, but unfortunately it's more complicated than that.
_
_ There is good and evil in every person. And what makes the United
States special in the history of nations is our commitment to the rule
of law and our carefully constructed system_of checks and balances. Our
natural distrust of concentrated power and our devotion to openness and
democracy are what have lead us as a people to consistently choose
good_over evil in our collective aspirations more than the people any
other nation.
_
_ Our founders were insightful students of human nature. They feared the
abuse of power because they understood that every human being has not
only "better angels" in his nature,_but also an innate vulnerability to
temptation - especially the temptation to abuse power over others.
_
_ Our founders understood full well that a system of checks and balances
is needed in our constitution because every human being lives with an
internal system of checks and_balances that cannot be relied upon to
produce virtue if they are allowed to attain an unhealthy degree of
power over their fellow citizens.
_
_ Listen then to the balance of internal impulses described by
specialist Charles Graner when confronted by one of his colleagues,
Specialist Joseph M. Darby, who later became a_courageous whistleblower.
When Darby asked him to explain his actions documented in the photos,
Graner replied: "The Christian in me says it's wrong, but the
Corrections_Officer says, 'I love to make a groan man piss on himself."
_
_ What happened at the prison, it is now clear, was not the result of
random acts by "a few bad apples," it was the natural consequence of the
Bush Administration policy that has_dismantled those wise constraints
and has made war on America's checks and balances.
_
_ The abuse of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib flowed directly from the
abuse of the truth that characterized the Administration's march to war
and the abuse of the trust that had been_placed in President Bush by the
American people in the aftermath of September 11th.
_
_ There was then, there is now and there would have been regardless of
what Bush did, a threat of terrorism that we would have to deal with.
But instead of making it better, he has_made it infinitely worse. We are
less safe because of his policies. He has created more anger and
righteous indignation against us as Americans than any leader of our
country in_the 228 years of our existence as a nation -- because of his
attitude of contempt for any person, institution or nation who disagrees
with him.
_
_ He has exposed Americans abroad and Americans in every U.S. town and
city to a greater danger of attack by terrorists because of his
arrogance, willfulness, and bungling at_stirring up hornet's nests that
pose no threat whatsoever to us. And by then insulting the religion and
culture and tradition of people in other countries. And by pursuing
policies that_have resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent men,
women and children, all of it done in our name.
_
_ President Bush said in his speech Monday night that the war in Iraq is
"the central front in the war on terror." It's not the central front in
the war on terror, but it has unfortunately_become the central
recruiting office for terrorists. [Dick Cheney said, "This war may last
the rest of our lives.] The unpleasant truth is that President Bush's
utter incompetence has_made the world a far more dangerous place and
dramatically increased the threat of terrorism against the United
States. Just yesterday, the International Institute of Strategic_Studies
reported that the Iraq conflict " has arguable focused the energies and
resources of Al Qaeda and its followers while diluting those of the
global counterterrorism coalition." _The ISS said that in the wake of
the war in Iraq Al Qaeda now has more than 18,000 potential terrorists
scattered around the world and the war in Iraq is swelling its ranks.
_
_ The war plan was incompetent in its rejection of the advice from
military professionals and the analysis of the intelligence was
incompetent in its conclusion that our soldiers would_be welcomed with
garlands of flowers and cheering crowds. Thus we would not need to
respect the so-called Powell doctrine of overwhelming force.
_
_ There was also in Rumsfeld's planning a failure to provide security
for nuclear materials, and to prevent widespread lawlessness and
looting.
_
_ Luckily, there was a high level of competence on the part of our
soldiers even though they were denied the tools and the numbers they
needed for their mission. What a disgrace_that their families have to
hold bake sales to buy discarded Kevlar vests to stuff into the
floorboards of the Humvees! Bake sales for body armor.
_
_ And the worst still lies ahead. General Joseph Hoar, the former head
of the Marine Corps, said "I believe we are absolutely on the brink of
failure. We are looking into the abyss."
_
_ When a senior, respected military leader like Joe Hoar uses the word
"abyss", then the rest of us damn well better listen. Here is what he
means: more American soldiers dying,_Iraq slipping into worse chaos and
violence, no end in sight, with our influence and moral authority
seriously damaged.
_
Remarks by Al Gore
_ May 26, 2004
_
_
_ George W. Bush promised us a foreign policy with humility. Instead, he
has brought us humiliation in the eyes of the world.
_
_ He promised to "restore honor and integrity to the White House."
Instead, he has brought deep dishonor to our country and built a durable
reputation as the most dishonest_President since Richard Nixon.
_
_ Honor? He decided not to honor the Geneva Convention. Just as he would
not honor the United Nations, international treaties, the opinions of
our allies, the role of Congress and_the courts, or what Jefferson
described as "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind." He did not
honor the advice, experience and judgment of our military leaders in
designing_his invasion of Iraq. And now he will not honor our fallen
dead by attending any funerals or even by permitting photos of their
flag-draped coffins.
_
_ How did we get from September 12th , 2001, when a leading French
newspaper ran a giant headline with the words "We Are All Americans Now"
and when we had the good will_and empathy of all the world -- to the
horror that we all felt in witnessing the pictures of torture in Abu
Ghraib.
_
_ To begin with, from its earliest days in power, this administration
sought to radically destroy the foreign policy consensus that had guided
America since the end of World War II._The long successful strategy of
containment was abandoned in favor of the new strategy of "preemption."
And what they meant by preemption was not the inherent right of
any_nation to act preemptively against an imminent threat to its
national security, but rather an exotic new approach that asserted a
unique and unilateral U.S. right to ignore_international law wherever it
wished to do so and take military action against any nation, even in
circumstances where there was no imminent threat. All that is required,
in the view_of Bush's team is the mere assertion of a possible, future
threat - and the assertion need be made by only one person, the
President.
_
_ More disturbing still was their frequent use of the word "dominance"
to describe their strategic goal, because an American policy of
dominance is as repugnant to the rest of the_world as the ugly dominance
of the helpless, naked Iraqi prisoners has been to the American people.
Dominance is as dominance does.
_
_ Dominance is not really a strategic policy or political philosophy at
all. It is a seductive illusion that tempts the powerful to satiate
their hunger for more power still by striking a_Faustian bargain. And as
always happens - sooner or later - to those who shake hands with the
devil, they find out too late that what they have given up in the
bargain is their soul.
_
_ One of the clearest indications of the impending loss of intimacy with
one's soul is the failure to recognize the existence of a soul in those
over whom power is exercised, especially_if the helpless come to be
treated as animals, and degraded. We also know - and not just from De
Sade and Freud - the psychological proximity between sexual depravity
and other_people's pain. It has been especially shocking and awful to
see these paired evils perpetrated so crudely and cruelly in the name of
America.
_
_ Those pictures of torture and sexual abuse came to us embedded in a
wave of news about escalating casualties and growing chaos enveloping
our entire policy in Iraq. But in_order understand the failure of our
overall policy, it is important to focus specifically on what happened
in the Abu Ghraib prison, and ask whether or not those actions
were_representative of who we are as Americans? Obviously the quick
answer is no, but unfortunately it's more complicated than that.
_
_ There is good and evil in every person. And what makes the United
States special in the history of nations is our commitment to the rule
of law and our carefully constructed system_of checks and balances. Our
natural distrust of concentrated power and our devotion to openness and
democracy are what have lead us as a people to consistently choose
good_over evil in our collective aspirations more than the people any
other nation.
_
_ Our founders were insightful students of human nature. They feared the
abuse of power because they understood that every human being has not
only "better angels" in his nature,_but also an innate vulnerability to
temptation - especially the temptation to abuse power over others.
_
_ Our founders understood full well that a system of checks and balances
is needed in our constitution because every human being lives with an
internal system of checks and_balances that cannot be relied upon to
produce virtue if they are allowed to attain an unhealthy degree of
power over their fellow citizens.
_
_ Listen then to the balance of internal impulses described by
specialist Charles Graner when confronted by one of his colleagues,
Specialist Joseph M. Darby, who later became a_courageous whistleblower.
When Darby asked him to explain his actions documented in the photos,
Graner replied: "The Christian in me says it's wrong, but the
Corrections_Officer says, 'I love to make a groan man piss on himself."
_
_ What happened at the prison, it is now clear, was not the result of
random acts by "a few bad apples," it was the natural consequence of the
Bush Administration policy that has_dismantled those wise constraints
and has made war on America's checks and balances.
_
_ The abuse of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib flowed directly from the
abuse of the truth that characterized the Administration's march to war
and the abuse of the trust that had been_placed in President Bush by the
American people in the aftermath of September 11th.
_
_ There was then, there is now and there would have been regardless of
what Bush did, a threat of terrorism that we would have to deal with.
But instead of making it better, he has_made it infinitely worse. We are
less safe because of his policies. He has created more anger and
righteous indignation against us as Americans than any leader of our
country in_the 228 years of our existence as a nation -- because of his
attitude of contempt for any person, institution or nation who disagrees
with him.
_
_ He has exposed Americans abroad and Americans in every U.S. town and
city to a greater danger of attack by terrorists because of his
arrogance, willfulness, and bungling at_stirring up hornet's nests that
pose no threat whatsoever to us. And by then insulting the religion and
culture and tradition of people in other countries. And by pursuing
policies that_have resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent men,
women and children, all of it done in our name.
_
_ President Bush said in his speech Monday night that the war in Iraq is
"the central front in the war on terror." It's not the central front in
the war on terror, but it has unfortunately_become the central
recruiting office for terrorists. [Dick Cheney said, "This war may last
the rest of our lives.] The unpleasant truth is that President Bush's
utter incompetence has_made the world a far more dangerous place and
dramatically increased the threat of terrorism against the United
States. Just yesterday, the International Institute of Strategic_Studies
reported that the Iraq conflict " has arguable focused the energies and
resources of Al Qaeda and its followers while diluting those of the
global counterterrorism coalition." _The ISS said that in the wake of
the war in Iraq Al Qaeda now has more than 18,000 potential terrorists
scattered around the world and the war in Iraq is swelling its ranks.
_
_ The war plan was incompetent in its rejection of the advice from
military professionals and the analysis of the intelligence was
incompetent in its conclusion that our soldiers would_be welcomed with
garlands of flowers and cheering crowds. Thus we would not need to
respect the so-called Powell doctrine of overwhelming force.
_
_ There was also in Rumsfeld's planning a failure to provide security
for nuclear materials, and to prevent widespread lawlessness and
looting.
_
_ Luckily, there was a high level of competence on the part of our
soldiers even though they were denied the tools and the numbers they
needed for their mission. What a disgrace_that their families have to
hold bake sales to buy discarded Kevlar vests to stuff into the
floorboards of the Humvees! Bake sales for body armor.
_
_ And the worst still lies ahead. General Joseph Hoar, the former head
of the Marine Corps, said "I believe we are absolutely on the brink of
failure. We are looking into the abyss."
_
_ When a senior, respected military leader like Joe Hoar uses the word
"abyss", then the rest of us damn well better listen. Here is what he
means: more American soldiers dying,_Iraq slipping into worse chaos and
violence, no end in sight, with our influence and moral authority
seriously damaged.
_
