Gore Would Have Been No Different on Iraq than Bush.

An Al Gore presidency would have acted on Iraq the same way the Bush administration did, says Dalhousie University professor Frank Harvey.

With the second Bush presidency now over, academics and armchair scholars alike are looking back at the presidential decisions of the past eight years.

Frank Harvey is no exception.

With his latest paper for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI), the Dalhousie political scientist is challenging the popular consensus that an Al Gore presidency would have gone down a fundamentally different path. In particular, he argues Gore would have invaded Iraq just as President Bush did, and in doing so, pieces together what he considers to be a stronger explanation of the decision to invade in the first place.

“I was never convinced that what seemed to be emerging as the conventional wisdom on the decision to invade Iraq was complete enough,” he explains. “I thought that one way to approach that weak theory was to revisit that history and change the theory’s key variable – replace Bush with a Gore administration.”

This approach to history, known as a counterfactual analysis, may seem like conjecture to some but Dr. Harvey points out that it’s a common practice when evaluating historical events or when testing social scientific theory. He argues any explanation for an event—why a war starts, why a leader decides on a course of action—involves the rejection of competing arguments and that re-evaluating those arguments with historical facts is standard practice.

The core of his argument is that Gore would have faced similar pressures as Bush, both from within the Washington establishment and from the body politic at large. By looking at Gore’s record in government as well as the advisors and voices he would have surrounded himself with, Dr. Harvey hypothesizes that Gore would have started down a similar path to Bush: attempting to get the inspectors back into Iraq, acquiring a Congressional authorization of force to back that effort, deploying troops to give credibility to the threat, and acquiring a strongly-worded UN Security Council resolution.

“Once you start down that road…once you make decisions that many at the time said were rational and reasonable for a credible threat, you’re on the bus,” he says. “And my argument is that momentum kicks in at that point, and it becomes harder and harder to get off the bus.”

The argument that Gore couldn’t have turned back from a path to war offers a sobering perspective on the limitations of presidential power.

Dr. Harvey looks forward to what the Obama administration may bring for American foreign policy. He believes that while presidential candidates often campaign on the edges of the American political spectrum, once in power they’re forced into a narrow ideological centre by a whole array of political, social and economic pressures. He doubts that the incoming Obama administration will be much different.

“If you buy the argument that I develop in the paper and find its evidence compelling, you can expect an Obama administration to follow foreign policies that look similar if not identical to the policies that we saw under the Bush administration,” he explains. “You will see differences, but they will be superficial. There will be few substantive changes on American foreign policy in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East or with Canada. Continuity and consistency is the norm in American foreign policy because it’s a product of so many other factors than leadership.”

GET IN TOUCH WITH CDFAI

By Mail

Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute
PO Box 2204, Station M
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2P 2M4
By Courier

Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute
Suite 1600
530 8th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2P 3S8


To receive CDFAI's electronic newsletters and/or research papers, please contact Kate McAuley or Sarah Hryniw contact@cdfai.org.
Phone:
(403) 231-7624
Fax:
(403) 231- 7647
E-mail:
contact@cdfai.org
Web Site:
www.cdfai.org

Views: 53

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Sandy posted a video

RISE OF THE RAINBOW CHILDREN (2021)

📺AMAZON/FIRESTICK/ROKU: Thescariestmovieever.tv https://watch.thescariestmovieever.tv/webtv-v3/ 💯EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLIES HERE (*Specials):…
1 hour ago
tjdavis posted videos
2 hours ago
Burbia posted a photo
9 hours ago
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's video
22 hours ago
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's video
22 hours ago
Less Prone posted photos
22 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Is This Story True and Have their Identities Been Changed?

(Perhaps it’s the only way it can be told) Chapter 1Roy reached across the aisle of the DC-3 as it…See More
yesterday
Doc Vega posted photos
yesterday
Sandy posted videos
Sunday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Sunday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Sunday
cheeki kea favorited Doc Vega's blog post A Grain of Hope
Sunday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Saturday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Saturday
tjdavis's blog post was featured
Saturday
Burbia's blog post was featured

Mystery illness strikes Russia with fever, blood symptoms, and no cure in sight.

I guess releasing this bio-weapon upon Israeli neighbors would be hitting too close to home. I…See More
Saturday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's photo
Thumbnail

main-qimg-357a10f7111dcf87a3cc6e2afad83855

"Islam is only a phase preceding a total Talmudic rule and a new world religion."
Saturday
Less Prone commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

WWRJD

"I doubt a d-rat Jesus would be better. Much worse. “Politicians are the lowest form of life…"
Saturday
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
Saturday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Friday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted