BUSH ADMINISTRATION Gore calls for resignations over Iraq war

The former vice president cited a 'contempt for the rule of law.'
WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Al Gore accused President Bush's war Cabinet of reckless incompetence Wednesday, and called for the resignations of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and CIA director George Tenet.
"George W. Bush promised us a foreign policy with humility. Instead, he has brought us humiliation in the eyes of the world," Gore said at a speech in New York sponsored by the liberal MoveOn PAC. "We simply cannot afford to further increase the risk to our country with more blunders by this team."
Gore, jabbing his fingers and raising his voice to a shout, called the horrors of Abu Ghraib prison "the predictable consequence of policy choices that flowed directly from this administration's contempt for the rule of law." His sweeping critique of that policy ranged from its aims to its vocabulary, and he complained about Bush aides' "frequent use of the word dominance to describe their strategic goal."
The former vice president did not mention Secretary of State Colin Powell, who successfully lobbied Bush to go to the United Nations before attacking Iraq. Gore, who lost to Bush by 577 votes in Florida and a 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court, said the victor "has brought deep dishonor to our country and built a durable reputation as the most dishonest President since Richard Nixon."
The speech, at New York University, was the highest-profile appearance by Gore since he endorsed former Vermont governor Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination.