Bush?s Dark Spirit of Domination Creates more Al
Qaeda Recruits and Support
Remarks by Al Gore at the New University, sponsored by Moveon.org, May 26, 2004
(Abstracts)
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.?
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Retired Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni, who headed Central
Command before becoming President Bush?s personal emissary to
the Middle East, said recently that our nation?s current course is
?headed over Niagara Falls.?
The Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, Army Major
General Charles H. Swannack, Jr., asked by the Washington Post
whether he believes the United States is losing the war in Iraq,
replied, ?I think strategically, we are.? Army Colonel Paul Hughes,
who directed strategic planning for the US occupation authority in
Baghdad, compared what he sees in Iraq to the Vietnam War, in
which he lost his brother: ?I promised myself when I came on active
duty that I would do everything in my power to prevent that ? from
happening again. ? Noting that Vietnam featured a pattern of
winning battles while losing the war, Hughes added ?unless we
ensure that we have coherence in our policy, we will lose
strategically.?
Even active duty military officers are speaking out against President
Bush. For example, the Washington Post quoted an unnamed senior
General at the Pentagon as saying, ?the current OSD (Office of the
Secretary of Defense) refused to listen or adhere to military
advice.? Rarely if ever in American history have uniformed
commanders felt compelled to challenge their commander in chief in
public.
The Post also quoted an unnamed general as saying, ?Like a lot of
senior Army guys I?m quite angry? with Rumsfeld and the rest of
the Bush Administration. He listed two reasons. ?I think they are
going to break the Army,? he said, adding that what really incites
him is ?I don?t think they care.?
In his upcoming book, Zinni blames the current catastrophe on the
Bush team?s incompetence early on. ?In the lead-up to the Iraq
war, and its later conduct,? he writes, ?I saw at a minimum, true
dereliction, negligence and irresponsibility, at worst, lying,
incompetence and corruption.?
Zinni?s book will join a growing library of volumes by former
advisors to Bush -- including his principal advisor on terrorism,
Richard Clarke; his principal economic policy advisor, former
Treasury Secretary Paul O?Neill, former Ambassador Joe Wilson,
who was honored by Bush?s father for his service in Iraq, and his
former Domestic Adviser on faith-based organizations, John Dilulio,
who said, ?There is no precedent in any modern White House for
what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus.
What you?ve got is everything, and I mean everything, run by the
political arm. It?s the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis.?
The soldiers who are accused of committing these atrocities are, of
course, responsible for their own actions and if found guilty, must be
severely and appropriately punished. But they are not the ones
primarily responsible for the disgrace that has been brought upon
the United States of America.
Private Lynndie England did not make the decision that the United
States would not observe the Geneva Convention. Specialist
Charles Graner was not the one who approved a policy of
establishing an American Gulag of dark rooms with naked prisoners
to be ?stressed? and even ? we must use the word ? tortured ? to
force them to say things that legal procedures might not induce them
to say.
These policies were designed and insisted upon by the Bush White
House. Indeed, the President?s own legal counsel advised him
specifically on the subject. His secretary of defense and his
assistants pushed these cruel departures from historic American
standards over the objections of the uniformed military, just as the
Judge Advocates General within the Defense Department were so
upset and opposed that they took the unprecedented step of
seeking help from a private lawyer in this city who specializes in
human rights and said to him, ?There is a calculated effort to create
an atmosphere of legal ambiguity? where the mistreatment of
prisoners is concerned.?
Another implicit acknowledgement of violations of accepted
standards of behavior is the process of farming out prisoners to
countries less averse to torture and giving assignments to private
contractors.
How dare they blame their misdeeds on enlisted personnel from a
Reserve unit in upstate New York. President Bush owes more than
one apology. On the list of those he let down are the young soldiers
who are themselves apparently culpable, but who were clearly put
into a moral cesspool. The perpetrators as well as the victims were
both placed in their relationship to one another by the policies of
George W. Bush.
How dare the incompetent and willful members of this Bush/Cheney
Administration humiliate our nation and our people in the eyes of the
world and in the conscience of our own people. How dare they
subject us to such dishonor and disgrace. How dare they drag the
good name of the United States of America through the mud of
Saddam Hussein?s torture prison.
David Kay concluded his search for weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq with the famous verdict: ?we were all wrong.?
And for many Americans, Kay?s statement seemed to symbolize
the awful collision between Reality and all of the false and fading
impressions President Bush had fostered in building support for his
policy of going to war.
Now the White House has informed the American people that they
were also ?all wrong? about their decision to place their faith in
Ahmed Chalabi, even though they have paid him 340,000 dollars
per month. 33 million dollars and placed him adjacent to Laura
Bush at the State of the Union address. Chalabi had been convicted
of fraud and embezzling 70 million dollars in public funds from a
Jordanian bank, and escaped prison by fleeing the country. But in
spite of that record, he had become one of key advisors to the Bush
Administration on planning and promoting the War against Iraq.
And they repeatedly cited him as an authority, perhaps even a future
president of Iraq. Incredibly, they even ferried him and his private
army into Baghdad in advance of anyone else, and allowed him to
seize control over Saddam?s secret papers.
Now they are telling the American people that he is a spy for Iran
who has been duping the President of the United States for all these
years.
?We are now being viewed as the modern Crusaders, as the
modern colonial power in this part of the world,? Zinni said.
What a terrible irony that our country, which was founded by
refugees seeking religious freedom ? coming to America to escape
domineering leaders who tried to get them to renounce their religion
? would now be responsible for this kind of abuse.
Ameen Saeed al-Sheikh told the Washington Post that he was
tortured and ordered to denounce Islam and after his leg was
broken one of his torturers started hitting it while ordering him to
curse Islam and then, ?they ordered me to thank Jesus that I?m
alive.? Others reported that they were forced to eat pork and drink
alcohol.
I am calling today for Republicans as well as Democrats to join me
in asking for the immediate resignations of those immediately below
George Bush and Dick Cheney who are most responsible for
creating the catastrophe that we are facing in Iraq.
We desperately need a national security team with at least minimal
competence because the current team is making things worse with
each passing day. They are endangering the lives of our soldiers,
and sharply increasing the danger faced by American citizens
everywhere in the world, including here at home. They are enraging
hundreds of millions of people and embittering an entire generation
of anti-Americans whose rage is already near the boiling point.
We simply cannot afford to further increase the risk to our country
with more blunders by this team. Donald Rumsfeld, as the chief
architect of the war plan, should resign today. His deputies Paul
Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith and his intelligence chief Stephen
Cambone should also resign. The nation is especially at risk every
single day that Rumsfeld remains as Secretary of Defense.
Condoleeza Rice, who has badly mishandled the coordination of
national security policy, should also resign immediately. George
Tenet (CIA Director) should also resign.
During Ronald Reagan?s Presidency, Secretary of Labor Ray
Donovan was accused of corruption, but eventually, after a lot of
publicity, the indictment was thrown out by the Judge. Donovan
asked the question, ?Where do I go to get my reputation back??
President Bush has now placed the United States of America in the
same situation. Where do we go to get our good name back?
The answer is, we go where we always go when a dramatic change
is needed. We go to the ballot box, and we make it clear to the rest
of the world that what?s been happening in America for the last four
years, and what America has been doing in Iraq for the last two
years, really is not who we are. We, as a people, at least the
overwhelming majority of us, do not endorse the decision to
dishonor the Geneva Convention and the Bill of Rights?.
Our world is unconquerable because the human spirit is
unconquerable, and any national strategy based on pursuing the goal
of domination is doomed to fail because it generates its own
opposition, and in the process, creates enemies for the would-be
dominator.
A policy based on domination of the rest of the world not only
creates enemies for the United States and creates recruits for Al
Qaeda, it also undermines the international cooperation that is
essential to defeating the efforts of terrorists who wish harm and
intimidate Americans.
The same dark spirit of domination has led them to ? for the first
time in American history ? imprison American citizens with no
charges, no right to see a lawyer, no right to notify their family, no
right to know of what they are accused, and no right to gain access
to any court to present an appeal of any sort. The Bush
Administration has even acquired the power to compel librarians to
tell them what any American is reading, and to compel them to keep
silent about the request ? or else the librarians themselves can also
be imprisoned.
They have launched an unprecedented assault on civil liberties, on
the right of the courts to review their actions, on the right of the
Congress to have information to how they are spending the public?s
money and the right of the news media to have information about
the policies they are pursuing.
The same pattern characterizes virtually all of their policies. They
resent any constraint as an insult to their will to dominate and
exercise power. Their appetite for power is astonishing. It has led
them to introduce a new level of viciousness in partisan politics. It is
that viciousness that led them to attack as unpatriotic, Senator Max
Cleland, who lost three limbs in combat during the Vietnam War.
The same meanness of spirit shows up in domestic policies as well.
Under the Patriot Act, Muslims, innocent of any crime, were picked
up, often physically abused, and held incommunicado indefinitely.
What happened in Abu Ghraib was difference not of kind, but of
degree.
The abhorrent acts in the prison were a direct consequence of the
culture of impunity encouraged, authorized and instituted by Bush
and Rumsfeld in their statements that the Geneva Conventions did
not apply. The apparent war crimes that took place were the
logical, inevitable outcome of policies and statements from the
administration.
To me, as glaring as the evidence of this in the pictures themselves
was the revelation that it was established practice for prisoners to
be moved around during ICRC visits so that they would not be
available for visits. That, no one can claim, was the act of
individuals. That was policy set from above with the direct intention
to violate US values it was to be upholding. It was the kind of
policy we see ? and criticize in places like China and Cuba.
Moreover, the administration has also set up the men and women of
our own armed forces for payback the next time they are held as
prisoners. And for that, this administration should pay a very high
price. One of the most tragic consequences of these official crimes
is that it will be very hard for any of us as Americans ? at least for a
very long time ? to effectively stand up for human rights elsewhere
and criticize other governments, when our policies have resulted in
our soldiers behaving so monstrously.
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