Al Gore has 30 years of hands-on experience as a leader who appreciates the need to have an American foreign policy that rises to the higest level of our values and heritage and reaches across all political political spectrum so that American can speak with one voice abroad. In that speech V.P. Gore called upon the American people to look beyond our commitment to peace in the Middle East by forging a new and enduring tie to the Islamic world. He recognizes the necessity of helping our friends in the Arab world benefit from the new world of information technology and globalization. As to Iraq, the U.S. will continue to aggressively challenge efforts by the Saddam regime to break out of its containment so long as it refuses to permit the U.N. inspection regime to return. The bottom line with Al Gore is the sooner there is a regime change in Baghdad, the sooner the Iraqi people will be able to return to living normal lives.
Missile defense seems to be a substitute for diplomacy and real peacekeeping efforts.
The Vice President has indicated that he will not let politics interfere with the important decisions necessary to defend America against such threats. But in order to make a determination on NMD, we first must be sure that the system is credible and that it achieves its intended objective and does not have the unintended effect of re-establishing an arms race, which George W. Bush seems intent to topple into because of phony arguments intended to create insecurities where they don't exist. He not only served as one of the youngest leaders in promoting a more safe and secure America by helping to promote arms control agreements, but his innovative ideas have served as the foundation for the denuclearization that has benefitted the American people. This commission worked to promote structural economic reform and bilateral exchanges to help Russia make the difficult transition from Communism. Al Gore is determined to use his experience as President to continue to work with the Russian people to help insure that their continued transition serves the most fundamental interests of the American people.