Skip to main content
Inside Politics
CNN Europe CNN Asia
On CNN TV Transcripts Headline News CNN International About CNN.com Preferences
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SERVICES
 
 
 
SEARCH
Web CNN.com
powered by Yahoo!

Gore challenges Bush Iraqi policy

Administration presses case against Saddam

Administration presses case against Saddam

   Story Tools

•  Commanders: U.S. | Iraq
•  Weapons: 3D Models

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- In a strong challenge to the Bush administration's policy on Iraq, former Vice President Al Gore said Monday any unilateral action the United States might take against Saddam Hussein could distract from the war on terrorism.

Gore, who is mulling a run for the White House in 2004, delivered his speech as lawmakers in Washington began work on a proposed resolution authorizing the use of force against Baghdad.

"I think specifically the Congress should establish why the president believes that unilateral action would not severely damage the fight against terrorist networks," Gore said during a 55-minute speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

"I believe that the resolution that the president has asked Congress to pass is much too broad in the authorities it grants and needs to be narrowed severely."

Gore's speech came as other Democrats continued to raise questions about the White House's plans for Iraq, and as the administration pressed its case against Saddam.

Bush has asked Congress for the authorization to take military action against Saddam. But a key Democrat expressed doubts about the administration's argument that Saddam is on the brink of developing nuclear weapons.

"As the senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, I have seen nothing that says Saddam Hussein has nuclear capability -- to either develop a weapon or to launch it, and certainly not to launch it to the United States," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic whip.

"If you're saying it's a threat to the U.S. and that's the justification that takes us down this path, there is no justification for that," the California Democrat said.

Iraq has denied that it has nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, but Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that "we know this is a lie."

"The entire world knows beyond dispute that Saddam Hussein holds weapons of mass destruction in large quantities and is seeking to acquire more," Cheney told a Republican fund-raiser in Kansas. Saddam's offer to allow weapons inspectors back in is "another attempt to avoid strong action by the Security Council," he said.

Work on the resolution itself will take place behind closed doors, and a vote on the resolution is not expected until the first week in October at the earliest, according to congressional sources. Meanwhile, lawmakers will continue with a series of congressional hearings on Iraq.

Gore suggested the Bush administration was acting in haste on Iraq.

"Great nations persevere and then prevail," Gore said. "They do not jump from one unfinished task to another. We should remain focused on the war against terrorism."

Over the weekend, the proposed congressional resolution on Iraq was the subject of some criticism from lawmakers, mostly Democrats, who said it was too broad.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Michigan, told "Fox News Sunday" that Republicans and Democrats alike want changes in the wording.

Of particular concern to Levin is the resolution's last line, which authorizes the use of force to "defend the national security interests of the United States against the threat posed by Iraq, and restore international peace and security in the region."

"It's not even limited to Iraq," Levin said. "And there's just simply no limits on it. It's a go-it-alone resolution ... very unilateral."

But other lawmakers -- particularly Republicans -- disputed that Bush needs U.N. support for a strike against Iraq or even that the president's draft resolution is too vague.

"I don't [have a problem with the resolution's language] because I think that we are the last nation, whether we like it or not, that has the capability to deal with some of these problems that are regional as well as global," U.S. Rep. Porter Goss, R-Florida, said on Fox. "I think we have to be engaged in it."



Story Tools

Top Stories
Panel: Spy agencies in dark about threats
Top Stories
CNN/Money: Security alert issued for 40 million credit cards
 
 
 
 
  SEARCH CNN.COM:
© 2004 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.