Bush Shows ‘Disdain’ for U.S. Allies, Gore Says

Al Gore, reentering America’s foreign policy debate, accused the Bush administration Tuesday of showing “impatience and disdain” toward U.S. allies in the war in Afghanistan and said military force alone would not win the long struggle against terrorism.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Gore embraced President Bush’s controversial description of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an “axis of evil.” But he said that other dangerous forces have to be addressed, such as poverty, ignorance, environmental problems, disease, corruption and political oppression.

For Gore, the appearance at the council marked another step back into the national spotlight. Members of the New York-based think tank include some of the nation’s most influential foreign policy experts, and the media were invited to listen in.

Ten days ago, Gore gave a “return to the national debate” speech at a Tennessee Democratic Party fund-raiser. In recent months he’s also appeared at Democratic fund-raisers in key political states, such as Florida, New Hampshire and Iowa. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he spoke out to proclaim his support of Bush in the war on terrorism.

In his first policy address since the 2000 election, Gore renewed his support for the Bush administration’s “highly successful opening counterattack” to the attacks. But he said it is crucial that the administration show “a more evident respect” for the coalition of allies it has built or that alliance could quickly crumble. Gore said the administration sometimes sends the message: “With others, if we must; by ourselves, if possible.”

Gore said U.S. policy should also be aimed long range at “draining the aquifer of anger that underlies terrorism.”

“The evil we now confront is not just the one-time creation of a charismatic leader and his co-conspirators, or even a handful of regimes,” Gore said. “What we deal with now is today’s manifestation of an anger welling up from deep layers of grievance shared by many millions of people.”

Foreign policy is one area in which Gore, during his unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign, believed he had an advantage over then-Gov. Bush.

Gore, a two-term vice president and 16-year veteran of Congress, had an influential hand in President Clinton’s foreign policy. He traveled frequently overseas to represent the United States on missions to the Middle East and China, for example, and at world economic and environmental forums.

He headed several country-to-country commissions designed to shape U.S. relations with such nations as Russia, Ukraine, Egypt and South Africa.