Gore Laments U.S. 'Abuses' Against Arabs

[Lefty Wilbury]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2006/feb/12/021206994.html


Gore Laments U.S. 'Abuses' Against Arabs
By JIM KRANE
ASSOCIATED PRESS

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -

Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.

Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.

"The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."

Gore told the largely Saudi audience, many of them educated at U.S. universities, that Arabs in the United States had been "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."

"Unfortunately there have been terrible abuses and it's wrong," Gore said. "I do want you to know that it does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of the citizens of my country."

On Iran, Gore complained of "endemic hyper-corruption" among Tehran's religious and political elite and asked Arabs to take a stand against Iran's nuclear program.

Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes but the United States and other Western countries suspect Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

"Is it only for the West to say this is dangerous?" Gore asked. "We should have more people in this region saying this is dangerous."

Several audience members criticized the United States for what they described as "unconditional" U.S. support for Israel, saying U.S. diplomats helped Israel flout U.N. resolutions that they enforced when the measures targeted Arabs.

Gore refused to be drawn into questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We can't solve that long conflict in exchanges here," Gore said.

Also at the forum, the vice chairman of Chevron Corp., Peter Robertson, said President Bush's desire to cut U.S. dependence on Mideast oil shows a "misunderstanding" of global energy supply and the critical role of Saudi Arabia.

In his State of the Union address this month, Bush pledged to cut U.S. dependence on Middle East oil by 75 percent by 2025.

"This notion of being energy independent is completely unreasonable," Robertson said at the economic forum, which opened Saturday.

"I believe Middle Eastern oil can and must play a certain role in the system," Robertson said. "Saudi Arabia's massive resources will continue to promote international energy security and serve as a moderating force in balancing supply and demand."

Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, made a plea at the forum for women's rights, telling Saudi leaders that the dearth of women in the work force was "undermining economic potential" of the kingdom.

Irish President Mary McAleese urged Saudi Arabia to learn from Ireland's economic transformation, which hinged on opening the country to the outside world and ushering women into the workplace.

---

 

[theHawk]

He should be tried and hanged for treason

 

[Annie]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2006/feb/12/021206994.html


Gore Laments U.S. 'Abuses' Against Arabs
By JIM KRANE
ASSOCIATED PRESS

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -

Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.

Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.

"The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."

Gore told the largely Saudi audience, many of them educated at U.S. universities, that Arabs in the United States had been "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."

"Unfortunately there have been terrible abuses and it's wrong," Gore said. "I do want you to know that it does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of the citizens of my country."

On Iran, Gore complained of "endemic hyper-corruption" among Tehran's religious and political elite and asked Arabs to take a stand against Iran's nuclear program.

Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes but the United States and other Western countries suspect Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

"Is it only for the West to say this is dangerous?" Gore asked. "We should have more people in this region saying this is dangerous."

Several audience members criticized the United States for what they described as "unconditional" U.S. support for Israel, saying U.S. diplomats helped Israel flout U.N. resolutions that they enforced when the measures targeted Arabs.

Gore refused to be drawn into questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We can't solve that long conflict in exchanges here," Gore said.

Also at the forum, the vice chairman of Chevron Corp., Peter Robertson, said President Bush's desire to cut U.S. dependence on Mideast oil shows a "misunderstanding" of global energy supply and the critical role of Saudi Arabia.

In his State of the Union address this month, Bush pledged to cut U.S. dependence on Middle East oil by 75 percent by 2025.

"This notion of being energy independent is completely unreasonable," Robertson said at the economic forum, which opened Saturday.

"I believe Middle Eastern oil can and must play a certain role in the system," Robertson said. "Saudi Arabia's massive resources will continue to promote international energy security and serve as a moderating force in balancing supply and demand."

Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, made a plea at the forum for women's rights, telling Saudi leaders that the dearth of women in the work force was "undermining economic potential" of the kingdom.

Irish President Mary McAleese urged Saudi Arabia to learn from Ireland's economic transformation, which hinged on opening the country to the outside world and ushering women into the workplace.

---

Only Al Gore would suc*up more too the Saudis than the administration has.

 

[Mariner]

making this point to the Saudis? The people who need to think about this are here at home.

I'm having alot of trouble understanding how readily people here condemn Islamic extremists (the bombers, kidnappers, and beheaders) while brushing official U.S. mistreatment and killing of often innocent detainees under the rug. I condemn BOTH--I do not excuse Islamist extremists, Cp, but I think we have to distinguish them from most Muslims, just as the I.R.A. did not represent most Christians in its terror campaign. I believe we would make much headway in the "hearts and minds" war, which is really the whole war on terror, if we we prosecuted our own offenders better--no matter how high up the ranks they were found.

Among the most egregious examples was a taxi driver in Afghanistan who is believed to have been completely innocent. Here's a piece from today's NY Times concerning how prosecutions for deaths such as his are stalled.

The New York Times
February 13, 2006
The Bagram File
Years After 2 Afghans Died, Abuse Case Falters

By TIM GOLDEN
FORT BLISS, Tex. — In the chronicle of abuses that has emerged from America's fight against terror, there may be no story more jarring than that of the two young men killed at a United States military detention center in Afghanistan in December 2002.

The two Afghans were found dead within days of each other, hanging by their shackled wrists in isolation cells at the prison in Bagram, north of Kabul. An Army investigation showed they were treated harshly by interrogators, deprived of sleep for days, and struck so often in the legs by guards that a coroner compared the injuries to being run over by a bus.

But more than a year after the Army began a major push to prosecute those responsible for the abuse of the two men and several other prisoners at Bagram, that effort has faltered badly.

Of 27 soldiers and officers against whom Army investigators had recommended criminal charges, 15 have been prosecuted. Five of those have pleaded guilty to assault and other crimes; the stiffest punishment any of them have received has been five months in a military prison. Only one soldier has been convicted at trial; he was not imprisoned at all.

While military lawyers said the pleas were negotiated in exchange for information or testimony against other soldiers, the prosecution has gained no evident momentum. Four former guards accused of assaulting detainees were all acquitted in recent courts-martial. Charges against a fifth former guard were dropped.

In one of the prosecutors' most important tests, the Army last month abandoned its case against Capt. Christopher M. Beiring, the former military police commander at Bagram and one of the few American officers since 9/11 to face criminal charges related to the abuse of detainees by the officers' subordinates.

* * *

Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/13/n...?_r=1&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=print

The whole article suggests that a prime cause of abuse was interrogators being unclear about what the official torture/interrogation policies were.

Mariner

 

[Hobbit]

He should be tried and hanged for treason

Not treason, sedition. There is a difference.

Treason is aiding an enemy of the United States.

Sedition is inciting treason or other violence against the United States.

 

[dmp]

why won't he die?

(sigh).

 

[ScreamingEagle]

why won't he die?

(sigh).

Cheney should invite him along on a pheasant hunt. :cof:

 

[Hagbard Celine]

Cheney should invite him along on a pheasant hunt. :cof:

HA-ha!

 

[dilloduck]

Cheney should invite him along on a pheasant hunt. :cof:

Deer---better chance of killing him.

 

[Annie]

Only Al Gore would suc*up more too the Saudis than the administration has.

From a 'moderate' at best blogger, not impressed with Al. Links at site:


http://www.themoderatevoice.com/posts/1139861375.shtml

Al Gore's Big Political Mistake (UPDATED)
by Joe Gandelman
Just when former Vice President Al Gore seemed to be re-carving a niche for himself as an outspoken, blunt political critic of the Bush administration he forgot a key rule of real estate:

"Location, location, location."

In a political move that is at best baffling, Vice President Al Gore delivered a speech filled with hard-hitting language about U.S. treatment of Arabs in the post-911 world in Saudi Arabia.

Even a potato that was just taken out of the sack would know that the location — Saudi Arabia, a country not exactly role model for the observance of human rights, democracy and a country of origin for many of the 911 hijackers — was a bad one. By choosing to deliver his speech there he was virtually ensuring that a controversy about it being on foreign soil, and from Saudi Arabia, was BOUND to overshadow its actual content.

Why didn't Gore just put a sign on his back that said "KICK ME" and then walk into a Republican rally?

Uh, oh. We better not give him any ideas...

The actual content might have been controversial, but it could have boosted his stock among some voters who applauded the speech where he took on the administration on warrantless wiretaps, then drawing verbal fire from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan and others. Once again his message was a strong, sure-to-be-controversial one:

Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.

The first part would have been disputed by some. The second part, less. MORE:

Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.

"The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."

Again, that's not a terrible, wreckless statement. Visa issues are emotional ones in countries. So his point there is not inflammatory.

Gore told the largely Saudi audience, many of them educated at U.S. universities, that Arabs in the United States had been "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."

"Unfortunately there have been terrible abuses and it's wrong," Gore said. "I do want you to know that it does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of the citizens of my country."

Once more, the controversy would have been over whether they were "indiscriminately" rounded up and then some would have questioned the "unforgivable" part while others would have said that he was right. AND:

On Iran, Gore complained of "endemic hyper-corruption" among Tehran's religious and political elite and asked Arabs to take a stand against Iran's nuclear program.

There's more. But Gore the point is: Gore would probably have had more impact if he delivered it on American soil. Even if he had said this to a Saudi group on American soil he would have avoided problems.

And what about being on foreign soil a big deal?

In reality, the foreign soil business is usually used by partisans of each party when they don't like what partisans of ANOTHER party says while on foreign soil.

If a person from their party takes a swing at another party while abroad, it somehow just doesn't seem like such a terrible thing. So in recent years this has become more (predictable)political posturing than anything else.

It's hard to believe such charges would sway a Democrat, Democrat-leaning centrist or a Republican concerned about his party's direction.

But the bottom line is that Gore undermined his own message by the ironic setting from which to deliver it — raising questions about whether the Democrats would be wise to again entrust their nomination to someone with such dubious political judgment.

UPDATE: Bull Moose writes:

While Cheney errantly shot off his shotgun, former Vice President Gore purposefully shot off his mouth. He saw fit to venture to Saudi Arabia to denounce America. In a land that oppresses its own people, spreads hate internationally and mistreats women...How brave and daring for Mr. Gore to attack America in the homeland of the 9/11 hijackers! Dan Quayle is smiling.

Location, location, location....

UPDATE II: Glenn Reynolds writes:"Al Gore looked like the Joe Lieberman of 1988 back when I was working for him. Now, well, he doesn't. I'm disappointed, because he seemed a lot more sensible than that, once."

 

[Annie]

How much was Al Gore paid by the Sauds?

 

[Stephanie]

I'd like to bitch slap the bloated windbag..... Gosh he's turned into one ugly hating american

 

[Lefty Wilbury]

since the forum was sponsered in part by obls family can we now say gore is bought off by the bin ladens? can we? can we pleeeeeze?


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_17_06_JKE.html

February 17, 2006
Al Gore's Embittered Remarks
By Jack Kelly

Former Vice President Al Gore is bitterly disappointed he was not elected president. Periodically, he expresses his disappointment in ways that gives us reason to be thankful he wasn't.

The most recent was last weekend, when he traveled to Saudi Arabia to make a speech denouncing the United States. The occasion was the annual Jeddah economic forum, which is sponsored in part by the family of Osama bin Laden (which claims to have distanced itself from the family black sheep).

Mr. Gore has not disclosed how much he was paid for his words of wisdom. It probably is less than the $267,000 former president Bill Clinton was paid for speaking to the group in 2002, but odds are his fee was in six figures.

Whatever Mr. Gore's speaking fee was, his hosts likely thought it a bargain, considering what the former vice president had to say. The U.S. committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after 9/11, Mr. Gore said. Arabs were "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa and not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."

According to the Arab American Anti Discrimination Committee, about 1,200 Arabs were arrested after 9/11. Of these, 725 were held on immigration violations, 100 on unrelated criminal charges, and 360 for possible links to terrorism.

The Census Bureau says there are about three million Arabs in the United States. The number "indiscriminately rounded up" after 9/11 is much less than one tenth of one percent of that number.

Mr. Gore didn't say what he thought was "unforgivable" about the conditions in which the Arabs were held, but his source probably was a June, 2003 report by the Justice Department's inspector general, or, rather, erroneous news accounts of the report.

The Los Angeles Times said most detainees were held for months without charges. In fact, only 24 were held for more than a month before being charged, and 59 percent were charged within three days, the IG report said.

Most Americans remember that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis, but Mr. Gore seems to have forgotten. He deplored the cancellation of "Visa Express," the expedited program without background checks through which several of the hijackers entered the United States.

In a footnote on page 492 of its report, the 9/11 Commission said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who planned the attacks, told interrogators most of the hijackers he selected were Saudis because they had the easiest time getting visas. According to statistics gathered by the Government Accountability Office, before 9/11 only three percent of Saudi applicants were interviewed prior to being issued a visa, and only one percent were refused.

The Bush administration "is playing into al Qaida's hands" by subjecting Saudi visa applicants to special scrutiny, Mr. Gore said. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States," he said.

Some Americans think it would be worse to let into the country terrorists bent on perpetrating another 9/11.

The former vice president's speech attracted little attention from the news media, but drew condemnation from Web loggers who were appalled both by what he said and where he said it.

"Only Al Gore could come up with the idea of criticizing Bush for not sucking up to the Saudis enough," sighed law professor Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit), who had been a volunteer on Mr. Gore's 1988 presidential campaign.

"It is one thing to say such things to an American audience in an effort to change our policy...It is another thing entirely to travel to a foreign country that features pivotally for the war for our generation for the purpose of denouncing American policies," said "Tigerhawk."

One wonders what possessed the former vice president to say what he said where he said it. Perhaps he is so embittered by his narrow 2000 loss that he doesn't mind saying things helpful to America's enemies if they might be hurtful to George W. Bush. Perhaps he is desperate for money and will say whatever his paymasters want to hear in the hopes of garnering future invitations. And maybe he just isn't all that bright.

He did flunk out of both law school and divinity school.

Whatever the reason, Mr. Gore's remarks will not assist Democrats in persuading swing voters they can be trusted with national security... which may be why his remarks drew so little attention from the news media.