Gore Likens Iraq Issue to Watergate Cover-Up

Escalating the political rhetoric surrounding President Bush’s handling of foreign policy before the Persian Gulf War, Democratic vice presidential nominee Al Gore Jr. suggested Thursday that if Bush is reelected, a Watergate-like scandal could engulf and paralyze the White House as it did 20 years ago during President Richard M. Nixon’s second term.

“George Bush is presiding over a cover-up significantly larger than Watergate,” Gore said during a campaign address to the National Editorial Writers Conference.

“Watergate began as a two-bit . . . burglary. Iraqgate includes the largest bank fraud in American history.”

Gore said Bush’s actions to cover up his dealings with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to avoid political embarrassment in the midst of a reelection campaign is perfectly analogous to the 1972 break-in of the Democratic Party headquarters at Washington’s Watergate Hotel.

The scandal, largely ignored during the presidential campaign, escalated during Nixon’s second term, leading to his resignation to avoid an impeachment trial.

“You are seeing the same thing happen right now with the Bush Administration except it’s happening at a much faster pace because we’ve been down this road before,” Gore added. “The Bush White House is having its attention diverted trying to manage this cover-up” just as Nixon did in 1973 and 1974 before he resigned.

While Gore avoided saying explicitly that Bush’s actions would set in motion a process leading to his impeachment, his comments go well beyond what even the harshest Administration critics have suggested so far in the sometimes-heated debate over U.S. policy toward Iraq and its aftermath.

Gore’s comments also come at a time when the Clinton-Gore ticket and Democrats in Congress have sharply escalated political rhetoric.

Congressional criticism of the Administration has centered on specific areas. Did the Administration intentionally block or restrict the criminal investigation of $5 billion in loans to Iraq by the Atlanta branch of Italy’s Banca Nazionale del Lavoro? Did Administration officials knowingly keep from Congress key documents describing the extent of prewar U.S. assistance to Saddam Hussein?. Were other countries encouraged to send U.S. arms to Iraq without proper notification of Congress?

These questions have been raised repeatedly, but there is no evidence any laws were broken and no evidence Bush had a direct hand in these actions.

“To be frank, Iraq was not a big issue for the President until the invasion of Kuwait in 1990,” said

A senior White House official who asked that his name be withheld said that “He was aware of the major policy issues, but not the other actions. Anyway, this was a foreign policy matter and trying to turn it into a criminal matter is utter nonsense.”

For his part, Gore framed the issue as a matter of Bush’s competence to direct foreign policy. By doing so, he attacked the perceived major advantage Bush has over Clinton, who has virtually no experience in international affairs.

While berating Bush for maintaining friendly ties to Hussein and thus indirectly encouraging him to invade Kuwait, Gore sidestepped questions on whether Bush, like Nixon, might labor under a cloud of personal criminal conduct if he were reelected.

“I’m not using the word impeachment,” Gore said. “There are 50 ways to leave the White House. That’s one of them. But a much better way is the election Nov. 3. I believe that the American people, unlike in 1972, are going to render a different judgment this November.”

Fulwood reported from Kentucky, Frantz from Washington.