Partial transcript and video of Al Gore on the Today show:
GORE: Well, the report this morning is actually one of several studies. There is one in the Pentagon. There has been reportedly been one in the White House itself. They are all basically saying the same thing, Matt. This is an utter disaster. This is the worst strategic mistake in the history of the United States. We as a nation have to find a way, in George Mitchell’s words, to manage a disaster. But I would urge the president not to – to try to separate out the personal issues of being blamed in history for this mistake and instead recognize it’s not about him. It’s about our country and we all have to find a way to get our troops home and to prevent a regional conflagration there.
As if you needed further confirmation. By the way, Al was right about this from day one.
If Al Gore runs for President again, the question will be whether he has to stop being right on so many things as a price … you know, so he’ll seem more reasonable.
How did Gore forget about the mistake made on Nov 7, 2000?
Think of the parallels:
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1960’s
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JFK wins close election, Nixon concedes even though he couldve pushed a statwide recount in IL, makes a few bumps along the way, runs for Governor of CA, loses, rebounds and bounced back so by 1968 with a new book and articles on Vietnam runs as a peace with victory candidate and wins big against Humphrey who inherited the mess LBJ inherited from JFK.
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2000’s
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Bush wins close election, Gore concedes even though he could have continued with a court battle over a recount in FL, makes a few bumps along the way (remember the beard and SNL), rebounds and bounces back with movie on Global Warming and statements on Iraq, perhaps runs as a peace with honor candidate and wins big against McCain or whichever poor sucker inherits the mess from Bush.
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And since Al Gore is on our side no Watergate or delayed withdrawl.
Al was part of the administration that got us involved in Haiti and Yugoslavia. There is no doubt in my mind that had he been president he also would have gotten us involved in Iraq after 9/11.
Charlie-
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When you concur that this was the worst mistake in US history, do you mean knocking over Sadaam or trying to reconstruct Iraq? Both? Just for clarity’s sake.
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Without thinking too hard, I’d say the civil war, various foreign policy wuss-outs (leading to pre-WWII Germany among others), the return to the gold standard, and probably the new deal rank as far worse mistakes (in different ways) but hey. Does hyperbole work for you or do you really buy it?
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Calling something that 90% of everyone thinks kept us moving through the great depression “one of the worst mistakes ever” takes a lot away from what is otherwise a cogent point.
The new deal and a few predecessors opened the door to endless government growth and set us on what seems to be an unstoppable path to socialism. I’m sure that is cheered among the progressive community but among us freedom buffs its tantamount to slow death.
capitalism isn’t perfect and the market isn’t some all-seeing golden calf. That’s why we have anti-trust regulation, intellectual property laws and the military (hire your own guards if you’re so self-sufficient), just to name a few things.
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All things in moderation.. I’m in favor of the best idea no matter which labels and ideas can be bolted onto it. In the complete collapse of our market economy in the 30s, priming the pump with public works spending on vital infrastructure like electricity in the south was the exact right thing to do. The market wasn’t doing that by itself and although less efficient, doing it via gov’t kept us moving. The same is gonna be done with healthcare, like it or not, in the next 20 years or so. “Anti-market”? That argument assumes that what we have now looks anything like a market.
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Attempting to “own” language like “freedom buffs” just makes you look silly.
was completely unnecessary, from the standpoint of US security. QED: No WMD. Add that to taking resources and concentration away from Afghanistan.
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“Trying” to reconstruct: How’s that working out for you?
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Seriously, that’s not much of a defense you’re mustering, there.
who seemed to agree that “it” was the worst mistake in US history… (not just “unnecessary”) I just asked for clarification and offered some alternatives.
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I’d think you’d want to defend your assertion.
if anyone would like to donate to the Draft Gore fund, you can do so at http://actblue.com/e…
It’s quite easy to see this parallel in Iraq. Saddam was an evil dictator, no doubt about that. But from a geopolitical standpoint, he was a buffer against Al Qaeda in a very volatile region. There was no Al Qaeda in Iraq until we invaded. Now there is an uptick in new Al Qaeda recruits, and there’s also a whole generation of young Iraqis who will grow up hating America.
…aside from the al qaeda allied group in the north of iraq (ok, sure, outside of his control) it bears mentioning the Zarqawi, erstwhile leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq who was recently killed by US bombs there, was in fact in Iraq before we invaded. He received medical treatment there after getting injured in Afghanistan if I recall correctly.
I don’t know why he must always overstate everything so.
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The worst strategic mistake in history? Like ignoring an escalating war between our two largest trading partners (Britain and France) after the rise of Napoleon? Trying to solve the problem by the Emgargo Act, thus destroying the economy of a third of the entire nation at that point? Or letting the situation slide into a war with Great Britain, for which the nation was completely unprepared, losing the war, and in the process having the nation’s capital sacked and burned?
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Or dithering, with no appreciable strategy, in the face of armed insurrection from 1861-1863, leading to the near collapse of the government, and nearly a million combat casulaties to rescue the situation?
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And again, pretending a threat didn’t exist from a war in Europe in 1914-1917, and yet again in 1939-1941?
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Even if Mr. Gore is right, he blows his credibility with the obsessive need to exaggerate everything all of the time.
I think we don’t know yet how serious the Iraq mistake will be for the future of US history. I see the decision to invade Iraq as founded in significant part on a wider policy change in the Middle East. Rather than continuing to negotiate around the issues of Israel, we would create a secular democratic regime in Iraq, inspiring the residents of other Middle Eastern countries to overthrow their own rulers and become more amenable to living in peace with Israel. In my humble opinion, the strategy was delusional from the start.
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I don’t see any long-term strategic advantage to come of our adventure in Iraq, no matter how we figure out an end to our involvement. In the worst-case scenario, the war may cost us: (1) the undying emnity of most of the Muslim world, (2) a fatal distraction from our struggle against terrorists, thanks to a diversion of resources from the real issues of that battle; (3) the end of American leadership in the world on issues well beyond security and human rights; (4) a constitutional crisis with the end of many of the personal liberties we think of as critical to our country; (5) ongoing loss of life, both from continuing violence across the Middle East and from attacks here at home; and (5) national bankruptcy, with the piper paid by eviscerating domestic social program, inflation, and a devalued dollar.
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The best-case scenario (I don’t want to be too depressing): (1)we use this experience of failure to re-invigorate our commitment to international cooperation and international law; (2) have a national dialog on the importance of the rule of law and the checks and balances critical to our governance; (3) reclaim some of the moral high ground in international affairs, starting with an apology delivered by the next president at the General Assembly of the United Nations; (4) learn to live in a world where our empire is gone (perhaps we have something to learn from other lost empires), and (5) recommit our resources to the real risks of terrorism, so we better protect our country.
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I’m afraid I lean toward the pessimistic, but I hope we can make a start on changing course and coming to terms with our utter failure.