By ANDREW BUNCOMBE
WASHINGTON - Former United States vice-president Al Gore has delivered a resounding attack on President Bush and his threatened strike against Iraq, accusing him of damaging America's war against terrorism.
The comments were so outspoken that Mr Bush was yesterday forced to counter them directly.
Having been all but silent for months, Mr Gore accused the President of squandering international sympathy towards the US and failing to recognise the diplomatic fall-out that would follow. He said Mr Bush's strategic doctrine of pre-emptive action was "troubling" and that a hasty war against Iraq could actually increase the likelihood of terrorist groups getting access to Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
"After September 11 we had enormous sympathy, goodwill and support around the world," said Mr Gore.
"We've squandered that, and in one year we've replaced that with fear, anxiety and uncertainty, not at what the terrorists are going to do but at what we are going to do."
Speaking at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco, he added: "The vast majority of those who sponsored, planned and implemented the cold-blooded murder of more than 3,000 Americans are still at large, still neither located nor apprehended, much less punished and neutralised.
"I do not believe that we should allow ourselves to be distracted from this urgent task simply because it is proving to be more difficult and lengthy than was predicted."
The most outspoken criticism of Mr Bush yet from a high-profile Democrat, Mr Gore's comments were widely interpreted as a water-testing mechanism as he weighs a decision on whether or not to run again for the Presidency. He has said he will announce his decision after the November mid-term elections.
Depending on whether or not Monday's comments strike a chord with the majority of Democrat supporters, this speech could prove to be a major factor in his decision regarding a rematch with Mr Bush.
Mr Gore is not the only former member of the executive to have criticised Mr Bush over Iraq. Also on Monday, former President Jimmy Carter questioned Mr Bush's stance, saying military action without the blessing of the United Nations would be a grave mistake that would put America in danger.
"I'm quite concerned about the White House's pursuit of Saddam Hussein without the support of many of its allies from the Persian Gulf War," he said.
"It is a radical departure from traditions that have shaped our nation's policy by Democratic and Republican presidents for more than 50 years."
Mr Bush yesterday felt the need to respond directly to Mr Gore's comments.
"There's lots of Democrats in Washington DC who understand that Saddam Hussein is a threat and that we must hold him to account," he said.
"I believe you'll see as we work to get a strong resolution out of Congress that a lot of Democrats are willing to take the lead in keeping the peace."
Polls suggest that such comments are getting through to the wider public. A new CNN/USA Today poll suggests that 49 per cent of those who are going to vote in the mid-term election feel Iraq is a more important issue now than the economy. The poll represents a big shift from August.
Meanwhile, the White House yesterday praised British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his "very bold" speech to Parliament and said the dossier of evidence against Iraq was "frightening in terms of Iraq's intentions and abilities to acquire weapons".
President Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said: "I think this reinforces the very sizeable doubts that people around the world have about whether Saddam Hussein has any interest in peace."
On the issue of regime change, Mr Fleischer said he believed there was no difference between Mr Blair and Mr Bush.
"I don't think there's any difference between us," he told reporters." I don't know what could lead anyone to that conclusion."
Mr Fleischer said other nation's had provided intelligence for Mr Blair's dossier but it was not the sum total of information about Iraq's alleged chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.
"Certainly, there is other intelligence," he said. "This is not everything that the government of the UK knows or that we know. ...There's a mountain of evidence about what Saddam Hussein has done and his intentions to continue his murderous ways. And so this is more evidence."
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Full text of the Blair dossier:
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