Gore Says Bush Exploits Public Fears to Gain Power
wireservice.wired.com
Sunday, November 09, 2003 5:14 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Al Gore on Sunday accused President Bush's administration of undermining American civil liberties and exploiting public fears about terrorism to consolidate political power.
Speaking at an event sponsored by the political advocacy group MoveOn.org and the American Constitution Society, Gore called for repeal of the Patriot Act enacted into law following the Sept 11, 2001 attacks the United States says were carried out by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.
Gore said the law has been used to collect information about Americans that does little to protect citizens against terrorism.
"In my opinion, it makes no more sense to launch an assault on our civil liberties as the best way to get at terrorists than it did to launch an invasion of Iraq as the best way to get Osama bin Laden," Gore said.
"In both cases, the administration has fostered false impressions and misled the nation with superficial, emotional and manipulative presentations that are not worthy of American democracy, " Gore said.
"In both cases they have exploited public fears for partisan political gain and postured themselves as bold defenders of our country while actually weakening not strengthening America," he added.
The speech is one of a series Gore, who served two terms as vice president under President Bill Clinton, has made criticizing Bush's handling of the war in Iraq and the economy. Gore lost to Bush in the 2000 election and has ruled out a rematch in 2004.
Gore said the Bush administration "seems determined to use fear as a political tool to consolidate its power and to escape any accountability for its use."
He called on the administration to end a policy of indefinitely detaining Americans as "enemy combatants" without charges or judicial process. Noncitizens detained by the government should also be entitled to some basic rights, he said.
He also said foreign citizens held at a U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay should be given hearings to determine their status.
"If we don't provide this, how can we expect American soldiers captured overseas to be treated with equal respect," he said. "We owe this to our sons and daughters who fight to defend freedom in Iraq, in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world." |
