The juxtaposition in one week of 1) the deaths in combat of two U.S.
female and 15 male sailors of the Aegis warship USS Cole which was
“mined” in the Persian Gulf “war zone” and 2) the revelation of the 1995
secret agreement between Gore and Chernomyrdin condoning the sale to
Iran by Russia of “naval mines” (and a third Kilo-class super-quiet
diesel-electric submarine) ought to spell the death of Al Gore’s quest
to be the next president.
The Clinton-Gore rationale for assigning women combat roles on U.S.
warships was that the silly old military — when deciding whom to
promote — placed a premium on actual service in combat. Clinton-Gore
women demanded the right to have successful fulfilling careers in the
military. If no gender discrimination was to be allowed in the
military, then that meant that women would have to have the opportunity
to also be weeded out — in combat, under fire — for leadership
positions. In the old Royal Navy there was a traditional after-dinner
wardroom toast — “Here’s to Bloody Wars and a Sickly Season.” Why,
you might ask, would Royal Naval officers wish there to be bloody wars
and disease epidemics? Because both meant the deaths of many fellow
naval officers and speedier promotions for the survivors. In days of
yore, combat was to be welcomed and death in combat not to be feared.
Why, you might ask, would your daughter or your sister want to drink the
modern day equivalent of such a toast in a Clinton-Gore navy? That’s a
good question. Maybe someone will ask the vice president that in
tonight’s debate.
For as former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman has noted, the mining
of the USS Cole was an act of war, not as President Clinton had it, “a
cowardly act.” The 17 U.S. sailors died in combat and the two Clinton
“cowards” who attacked them reportedly stood at attention as they
deliberately set off what could only have been a powerful naval mine.
They blew a 40-foot by 80-foot hole in the half-inch steel hull of the
Cole, half of the hole being below the water line! Incredible! The two
Clinton “cowards” almost sank the USS Cole, a powerful billion-dollar
Aegis warship, with their powerful naval mine. One wonders immediately
where they got such a mine.
Then, in the same week, it was revealed that Vice President Gore had
signed a secret agreement with his old buddy-roo Viktor Chernomyrdin
back in 1995 which promised on a stack of bibles that President Clinton
would not invoke the sanctions against Russia required by law if the
Russians went ahead with their plans to supply Iran with — among other
weapons — a third
Kilo-Class
submarine, complete with long range torpedoes and naval mines. That’s right. Naval mines.
The sanctions that would have been applied were those mandated by the Iran-Iraq Nonproliferation Act of 1992, sponsored by Sen. John McCain for the minority and guess who for the majority? You’re right! Sen. Al Gore was the law’s principal sponsor. Gore and McCain specifically cited the sale of the Kilo-Class submarines to Iran as one reason the Gore-McCain Act was needed, back when World War II vet George Bush was still president. But in 1995, with Bill Clinton now commander in chief of the armed forces, Gore promised in writing in a secret agreement that Clinton would not invoke the sanctions against Russia required by the Gore-McCain Act.
Gore now claims that the sale of such weapons as super-quiet submarines equipped with powerful long-range torpedoes and naval mines aren’t covered by Gore-McCain because they don’t “affect the balance of power” in the Persian Gulf region. There is no reason to suppose — at the moment — that it was a Russian naval mine supplied to Iran that almost sunk the USS Cole, but someone’s naval mine almost did. Thanks to Gore, the Iranians now have three Kilo-Class submarines. (The Indians have 10 and the Chinese have four.) Back when the Aegis warship USS Vincennes shot down the unarmed Iranian airliner over the Persian Gulf there was not much Iran could do in reprisal. But now there is plenty they could do. After the mining of the USS Cole Gore cannot now claim that the sale of Russian arms condoned by his secret agreement has not affected the balance of power in the Persian Gulf.
What is scary is that, for all we know, Gore and Chernomyrdin may well have had other secret agreements. From its creation by Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin in 1993, the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission operated without “oversight” by either executive or legislative branch in either Russia or the United States. That is, of course, exactly why the commission was created — to operate irresponsibly. The commission just took over all the multibillion-dollar-per-year U.S.-Russian cooperative programs mandated by Congress — ranging from dismantlement of Russian nukes to reforming the Russian tax code. But Gore never prepared a budget, never had a program plan, never provided anyone with progress reports, was never called in by anyone to account for his actions at any time. Yet, if you go to his
Al Gore 2000 website, you will see that he cites the irresponsible and unaccountable work of the commission to be among his principal achievements. Here is what Gore claims he did to prevent the proliferation of Russian “loose nukes”:
Gore Worked to Help Eliminate Nearly 5,000 Nuclear Weapons in Former Soviet States. Through the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Commission, which Gore co-chairs, the Administration has overseen implementation of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. Under that program, nearly 5,000 nuclear warheads have been deactivated. Over 250 missile silos have been destroyed, along with 50 heavy bombers, and other nuclear weapons facilities. Khazahkstan, Belarus, and the Ukraine — which were all “born nuclear” — are now nuclear free. And today, there are no Russian nuclear weapons aimed at the United States.
Gore’s Efforts Helped Safeguard Weapons Material. Gore helped strike a deal to enable the U.S. to purchase and remove 600 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium from a Kazakhstani production facility. This transfer to secure storage in the U.S., known as Project Sapphire, was instrumental in preventing diversion, theft, or purchase of the material by terrorists or rogue states. Also, under the “Megatons to Megawatts” program, the United States has agreed to purchase 500 MT of Russian enriched uranium — the equivalent of thousands of nuclear warheads.
Gore and the Administration Worked to Protect Americans Against Weapons of Mass Destruction. Al Gore and the Administration have pursued an aggressive arms control and non-proliferation agenda. This includes reducing Russia’s nuclear forces through the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START I, II, and III); adapting the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty to enhance military predictability and stability in Europe; working with Russia to halt the flow of technology to Iran; developing a national missile defense system capable of defending against missile attacks from Iran and North Korea; and strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Missile Technology Control Regime.
Don’t believe a word of it. In reality, Al Gore used the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission to prevent Congress from exercising any oversight over what the Clinton-Gore administration was doing — or not doing — in Russia. Clinton-Gore “aggressive”? In no case did the Clinton-Gore ever ask for congressional authority to do more than Congress mandated; in most cases Clinton-Gore never did as much as Congress mandated. In some cases what Gore did was actually contrary to what Congress mandated. In the particular case cited above of his “working with Russia to halt the flow of technology to Iran” we have just learned this week that Gore had in fact been responsible for the secret 1995 agreement wherein the provisions of the 1992 Gore-McCain Nonproliferation Act were subverted.
We have long known that the Clinton-Gore administration was speaking with forked tongue, saying one thing to us and something else to others. We now know that the Clinton-Gore administration has entered — unconstitutionally — into secret agreements with foreign powers to subvert the laws of the United States. Now, does that “rise to the level” of “High Crimes” for which the prescription is Impeachment and Removal from Office?
