Al Gore on Iraq withdrawal and NAFTA
Al Gore gave a terrific interview on Larry King last night. Thanks to King for this unusually deep discussion on his show in recent years. Most of it was about the environment, energy and climate crisis, God bless Al Gore for this work, but there were a couple of interesting exchanges on other issues.
On the Iraq War
KING: How do you end Iraq? Do you leave?GORE: Well, yes, we need to get our troops back...
KING: Now?
GORE: ...as quickly as we can but we have to recognize that however bad I believe the mistake was in invading Iraq under these pretenses that turned out to be based on completely false impressions however big the mistake was in getting there, we now all of us, whether we thought it was wise or not, have a moral obligation to look at the situation as it is and try not to make the mess that's been created worse than it would otherwise be.
And we need to follow twin objectives, get our troops back home as quickly as we can. But, secondly, we need to avoid the moral mistake of just getting out in a way that enhances the already high risk of anarchy and/or civil war.
KING: That's a thin line.
GORE: It is a thin line and I said earlier in the program the unfortunate reality is we do not have good options now. We have to choose among the least bad options.
On NAFTA
It followed a 1993 video clip in which Gore said of Mexico: "The best way to eliminate our influence down there is to defeat NAFTA. The best way to preserve it is to enter into this bargain, continue the lowering of the barriers. We've got a commitment that they're going to raise their minimum wage with productivity. We've got an agreement for the first time in history to use trade sanctions to compel the enforcement of their environmental standards. As they begin to develop and locate better jobs farther south, we cut down on illegal immigration."
Here is what Gore said last night:
KING: Has that happened?GORE: Well, it's hard to say that illegal immigration got any better. It obviously got a lot worse. But it might have been worse still without the effort to try to boost the economy in Mexico.
You know, during the Clinton-Gore administration, we faced a couple of big challenges on that front. There was a financial crisis in Mexico and we took the bold step of shoring them up. And then when it came to this agreement to try to strengthen their economy and get more good jobs down there to slow down the flow of immigration, I think we did the right thing.
I think other developments in the aftermath of those years, principally the rise of China and the movement of jobs from Mexico to China and to other Asian countries, made the situation worse than it would have otherwise been. But without the agreement that was made and without the shoring up of their economy back then, it could have been much worse still.
It's a great interview - full transcript.
