Gore: Bush has failed to make US safer ( 2003-11-10 14:05) (Agencies)
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore accused
President Bush on Sunday of failing to make the country safer after the
Sept. 11 attacks and using the war against terrorism as a pretext to consolidate
power.
"They have taken us much farther down the road toward an intrusive, 'big
brother'-style government — toward the dangers prophesied by George Orwell in
his book '1984' — than anyone ever thought would be possible in the United
States of America," Gore charged in a speech.
Former U.S. Vice President Al
Gore gestures during a speech on Nov.9, 2003, in Washington.
Gore denounced the White House and Justice Department for perceived
assaults on civil liberties during the war on terror.
[AP]
Gore, who lost the disputed 2000 presidential election to Bush, said
terrorism-fighting tools granted after Sept. 11 amount to a partisan power grab
that have led to the erosion of the civil liberties of all Americans.
He brought many the crowd of 3,000 to their feet when he called for a repeal
of the Patriot Act, which expanded government's surveillance and detention
power, allowing authorities to monitor books people read and conduct secret
searches.
Gore chided the administration for what he said was its "implicit assumption"
that Americans must give up traditional freedoms in order to be safe from
terrorists.
"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 at Osama bin Laden," Gore said.
In both cases, Gore said, the administration has "recklessly put our country
in grave and unnecessary danger."
He also said the administration still has "no serious strategy" for domestic
security — charging that there aren't sufficient protections in place for ports,
nuclear facilities, chemical plants and other key infrastructure.
His speech was sponsored by the liberal activist group Moveon.org, which
earlier this year held an online presidential primary in which Howard
Dean finished first.
The second sponsor, the American Constitution Society, is a national
organization of law students, professors, lawyers and others that says it seek
to counter what it characterizes as the dominant, narrow conservative vision of
American law today.
The Patriot Act was passed overwhelmingly by Congress after the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks, but has been under attack by liberals and even many conservatives
who say the law intrudes too much into Americans' lives in the name of fighting
terror.
Democrats have been trying to build support in the Senate to rolling back
portions of the law and some Republicans say it needs to be changed.
"The Patriot Act crossed the line on several key areas of civil liberties,"
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill, a member of the Senhate Judiciary Committee said
last month.
Changes must be made to the law if it is to be renewed in 2005, agreed GOP
Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, another member of the Judiciary Committee.
