Grabbing A**

"That's a no-brainer. Of course it's a violation of international law, that's why it's a covert action. The guy is a terrorist. Go grab his ass."

Cheney? Wolfowitz? Rumsfeld? Nope. Al Gore.

Jonah at NRO pointed to an old Tigerhawk piece that details via Richard Clarke's book Against All Enemies how Vice President Gore argued FOR rendition. Here's the full quote:

Snatches, or more properly "extraordinary renditions," were operations to apprehend terrorists abroad, usually without the knowledge of and almost always without public acknowledgement of the host government.... The first time I proposed a snatch, in 1993, the White House Counsel, Lloyd Cutler, demanded a meeting with the President to explain how it violated international law. Clinton had seemed to be siding with Cutler until Al Gore belatedly joined the meeting, having just flown overnight from South Africa. Clinton recapped the arguments on both sides for Gore: Lloyd says this. Dick says that. Gore laughed and said, "That's a no-brainer. Of course it's a violation of international law, that's why it's a covert action. The guy is a terrorist. Go grab his ass." (pp. 143-144)

How does one look at this? Perhaps that Democrats are not as irresponsible as we fear if they get into office? Perhaps. But how can we trust someone who was for this in 1993 and against it today after years of attacks on the United States purely for political expediency?