Would Gore Have Led Us to War?

[the_sam]

What do you think?

In Bush's position, Gore would've taken advantage of the situation to push his policy goals, just as Bush did. Among such measures are many things (like increased "defense" spending) that really do nothing to protect anyone from terrorism.

He definitely would've attacked Afghanistan, and probably Iraq as well -- not because Iraq has anything to do with al Qaeda, but because controlling Iraq would be (and is) a source of immense strategic power. However, he might not have done it without the UN's blessing.

I also think he'd be even more pro-Sharon than Bush.

[Robin Hood]

1. No, he said so before the war.

I would not have gone to Iraq.

[the_sam]

14. That's what he said after he lost the election

But would he have done the same thing as a politician?

It's very easy to say what one "would have" done in a position. It's quite different to actually be in that position.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

2. NO

Period. You're overthinking things on this one. All can be trumped by the fact Al's a responsible adult.

[molly]

3. What is this discussion really about?

[Jacobin]

4. Doubt that very very very very seriously

Invading Iraq is an idiotic idea that is backfiring as we speak.

NO ONE, but the PNACers were in favor of invading Iraq....remember all the Scowcroft, Baker and other editorials last fall urging restraint?

We had him contained.

Smirk needed a diversion and an oil field.

PNACers had their own agenda.

Congress got beat into submission to approve the invasion.

I would heartily disagree that Gore would have invaded Iraq.

[Aristus]

5. Never. Gore is not some posturing charlatan with a stuffed crotch,

strutting around, blustering in his best John Wayne manner, trying desperately to look "Presidential". Gore was Presidential, without having taken office! The man is smart. He wouldn't need all this nonsense in Iraq to make himself look good to the 18 people out there who think that what * is doing is Presidential.

[Pathwalker]

6. I thought he said he was AGAINST the war,

so why would he have led us into a war he didn't support?

[bryant69]

15. I don't think he would have, but . . .

It's easy enough to see why a politician would adopt a position in opposition to the party in power, particularly if that position is popular to his base. He didn't spend much time protesting Clinton's adventures in Iraq, as I recall.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Zero Gravitas]

7. NO

Gore may well have attacked Afghanistan, but there is no way he would have been so irresponsible as to invade Iraq. He wouldn't have ponced around in that flight suit either, and he wouldn't have appointed the likes of Ashcroft, von Rumsfeld or Wolfowitz.

[w4rma]

8. Al Gore: I would Never Start This War

Al Gore: I would Never Start This War
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=21239

Al Gore has never been a supporter of Iraq war
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3451987&thesection=news&thesubsection=dialogue

[LynneSin]

9. One has to wonder if 9/11 would have happened with Gore

Which is a question that we can always speculate but never answer.

• I do know that Gore would not have been on vacation for more than a month
  
• I do believe that Gore would have taken serious the memos that were sent around (the Phoenix Memo) about the possiblity of attacks
  
• I do believe that if several planes started to seriously go off course that he would have scrambled our air force to make sure these planes didn't do anything out of the ordinary other than maybe an emergency landing (aka - similiar to Payne Stewart)
  

But believing all of that, those planes still could have hit. But I do know that Gore would rely on our strong allies in Europe, our mutual but guarded respect with Russia and China and would have stuck with the UN with any decisions made. Blair would have still be our biggest ally (Clinton and Blair were close friends) but I doubt we would have gone to such extreme measures to invent reasons for a war.

[the_sam]

12. But Clinton invented reasons for a war

First, I agree with the point that 9/11 may not have happened under Gore. Gore's always struck me as a great deal more competent.

But don't go thinking that the Democrats wouldn't invent reasons for war. The Gulf of Tonkin lie wasn't told by a conservative Republican.

Clinton invented reasons for Kosovo. There was a civil war in Kosovo in which brutal tactics were utilized by both sides, with 2,000 dead on both sides during 1998. That doesn't approach the level of genocide. The KLA was not a group of freedom fighters, but a group of thugs allied with organized crime and funded by drug trafficking. It is true that the Serb forces were militarily superior to the Albanians, and therefore committed more of the most brutal acts. However, the bombing campaign did nothing to stop these attacks -- rather, it intensified them. It was like a hostage situation; the Serbs couldn't attack NATO forces, so they attacked the Albanians instead. This was an entirely predictable scenario (by the admission of NATO leaders), and resulted in several times the number killed and displaced in 1998 being killed during the conflict.

The Russian proposal -- to keep international observers there to protect the Albanians, send in Russian peacekeepers, and negotiate autonomy for Kosovo -- would've been just as effective, and resulted in much less loss of life.

The real motive of the bombing campaign was, of course, to defend the credibility of NATO.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nannygoat]

10. President Gore: A Look Back

http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/index.html?uc_full_date=20030429

Edited to add link to:

The Gore Commission Final Report
http://www.airportnet.org/depts/regulatory/goreini.htm

[ParanoidPat]

11. More flame bait!

Tell me, are you really that uninformed about the shelved report that Gore did about terrorism and the need to up security at the nations airports just prior to leaving office? Did you forget about the Bush* (mis)Administration stopping the FBI investigations of Osama Bin Forgotten? What evidence ( links please! ) do you have to back up your opinion? :shrug: :evilgrin:

[the_sam]

13. I'm saying *if* 9/11 had happened

Though it may well not have happened under Gore.

[samsingh]

16. no - and he would have prevented 9-11

.

[kaitykaity]

17. No

911 would not have happened under President
Gore.

Period.

[Capn Sunshine]

18. Seeing how The* Cabal wanted WAR from day one

Or did you also overlook Rumsfeld's notes the day of 9-11 "Tie this to Iraq?" Sweep it all up!" Ther was NON DOUBT HOW we ended up in war.

Would GORE have led us to war? Probably not. the case then as now, being made by LOGICAL people whom Gore takes counsel with, was that to start a war in the middleast would lead to a WORSE situation than keeping Saddam "in a box".

Lo and behold, look what has happened.
:nuke:

[Zephyrbird]

19. No.

Your whole argument is based on the assumption that Gore would have the same goals as Bush does. This is the biggest failing of your proposed line of thinking. I can't imagine two men further apart on Middle East policies.

And besides, Clinton didn't "invent reasons to go to war" in Kosovo. The Kosovars asked for help, it was a NATO exercise, and we did not unilaterally attack Milosevic.

Frankly, you're really reaching, but for what reason?

[Trek234]

20. Of course

He would have went for Afghanistan. Doubt Iraq.

Mostly Gore would have kept the status quo as much as possible. Attack Afghanistan, then keep everything cool.

[Samantha]

22. No

I believe Bush* provoked the attacks of 9/11 by issuing ultimatums to the Taliban. Support our running this pipeline to the Caspian Sea and you will be rewarded with a carpet of gold. Get in the way and you will be punished by a carpet of bombs. Bush* representatives were reported making these threats in June prior to the attacks.

The Hart-Rudman report was commissioned in 1998. A copy of the report issued by the bi-partisan commission was handed to Bush* in March 2001. He said he was going to delegate the terrorism issue to Cheney, to be administered under FEMA. The first meeting Cheney bothered to have was in September 2001.

Gore would have continued the weekly terrorism meetings conducted under the Clinton administration. He would have absorbed the findings of the Hart-Rudman report and acted upon its recommendations. That report said we would probably be attacked here within our borders within the next 25 years. Six months later, we were hit. Why? Because of the ultimatums?

I don't think we would have suffered the attacks, but if we had, Gore would have never protected Saudi Arabia as Bush* has. If he had gone into Afghanistan, it would have been to launch strategic hits against Osama binLaden, not to bomb the hell out of civilians with carpet bombs.

Additionally, he would have implemented the airline safety precautions outlined in his own report.

Homeland Security was also a recommendation of the Hart-Rudman commission. Though Bush* likes to claim credit for it, and Lieberman is often credited with forcing Bush* to take a look at the idea, the original suggestion for this department came as a result of the two-year bi-partisan study. Gore would have acted on it.

Gore would have never allowed the peace talks between Israel and Palestine to lapse. He would have been on it, on it, on it.

There are several more things that would not have happened on a Gore watch, but there is only so much time this evening to discuss this issue. However, to answer your original question, Gore is on record as saying, I wouldn't start this war two days before it started. He gave an in-depth interview on the subject approximately a month before the war, during which he said there was no question we could militarily win, but WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AFTERWARDS WAS THE BIG QUESTION ... Additionally, he said he would have voted against the Patriot Act in a speech he gave in California. He said it was un-American.

People can say what they like about Gore, but in most of the cases we have been discussing, the record will back it up, he was absolutely right. And we won't even go into the Social Security lockbox ....