Gore: Bush 'duped' US
2004-06-25 09:18
Washington - Former vice president Al Gore on Thursday accused President George W Bush of duping US voters on purpose by falsely linking al-Qaeda to ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Bush is "now intentionally misleading the American people by continuing to aggressively and brazenly assert the linkage between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein," Gore said, visibly agitated, during a speech to the law faculty at Georgetown University here.
Gore recalled that an independent commission investigating the September 11, 2001 attacks found in a preliminary report no "credible evidence" of co-operation between Baghdad and Al-Qaeda.
Gore said Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney "have decided to fight to the rhetorical death over whether or not there's a meaningful connection between Iraq and Al-Qaeda.
"If Iraq has nothing to do with the attack or the organisation that attacked us, then that means the president took us to war when he didn't have to."
Gore said that Americans who believe there is a link between Al-Qaeda and Saddam supported the war, while those who did not believe in such a link were more likely to criticise the decision to invade Iraq, according to polls.
- AFP