Al Gore Speech 5/26/2004
Part 5
This is part 5 of my fisking of Al Gore's
speech from May 26, 2004 at a MoveOn.org rally. Gore's remarks are
in blue.
[
Gore's Original Speech ]
[ Part 1 ][ Part
2 ][ Part 3 ][
Part 4 ][ Part
5 ][ Part 6
][ Wrap Up ]
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.
I have already noted that terror incidents are almost half what
they were in 2001. This can hardly be called making it worse.
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.
In 2002, Gore said the following: "Iraq does pose a serious
threat to the stability of the Persian Gulf and we should organize
an international coalition to eliminate his access to weapons of
mass destruction. Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction
has proven impossible to completely deter and we should assume that
it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." What exactly
did Saddam do between then and last year to become "no threat
whatsoever to us". Was Gore lying then or now or misinformed
then or now? Gore's previous remarks are pretty far afield of his
current remarks, casting a pall over either his judgemnt or sincerity.
According to UNICEF, sanctions against Iraq were costing the lives
of 36,000 per year. Amnesty International places the deaths at the
hands of Saddam's regime over the last 30 years at 500,000 (or about
16,000 per year). Conflate the yearly figures and there are 52,000
innocent men women and children alive today that arguably would
be dead. Subtract from this the high figures from anti-war website
IraqBodyCount.com of 11,000 in the last 14 months of conflict, and
you have a net gain of 41,000 souls. Gore may not give a hill of
beans about those 41,000 people, but a normal guy like me has to
look at this as a good thing. It may serve Gore's rhetorical purpose
to ignore tens of thousands of innocent lives saved, but it demonstrates
far more callousness than the President shows on his worst day.
In fact, I am damn proud of our country for stepping up and crushing
Saddam. I am damn proud of the thousands who not only have a chance
at life, but a chance at freedom.
[
Gore's Original Speech ]
[ Part 1 ][ Part
2 ][ Part 3 ][
Part 4 ][ Part
5 ][ Part 6
][ Wrap Up ]
Tim McNabb
|
