The adage that "politics stops at the water's edge" has apparently long since been laid to rest. At the least, we need a new adage counseling American politicians not to defame their country or grovel before the potentates of the homeland of many of America's enemies. Yesterday former Vice President Gore spoke before a "mainly Saudi audience" on day two of the Jeddah Economic Forum: "Gore laments U.S. abuses against Arabs." The AP reports:

Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.

Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.

"The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."

Gore told the largely Saudi audience, many of them educated at U.S. universities, that Arabs in the United States had been "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."

"Unfortunately there have been terrible abuses and it's wrong," Gore said. "I do want you to know that it does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of the citizens of my country."

That's what Gore wants them to know. I want them to know that Gore's impulse to defame his country before a foreign audience for fun and profit does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of citizens of my country. I want them to know that the American people support the enforcement of America's immigration laws, especially against those suspected of having a possible terrorist connection. I want them to know that when 15 of the 19 perpetrators of September 11 were found to have been Saudi citizens, the American people wanted the Saudi government to take responsibility for its role in the attack on the United States and take every action necessary to ensure that it never happens again.

I want them to know that when the Justice Department Inspector General's draft report on the subject of detentions in the immediate aftermath of September 11 was prepared, former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson wrote that the period after the September 11 attacks was one of tremendous intensity, as the Department was required to alter its central mission in order to prevent further acts of terrorism; his staff was required to respond, in a crisis atmosphere, to hundreds of novel legal issues; had to shoulder a monumental task and an enormous workload; and had a great number of other responsibilities during this period as part of a comprehensive effort to protect the United States from further acts of terrorism:

"The detention of those illegal aliens suspected of involvement with terrorism was paramount to that mission. My staff understood that the immigration authorities of the Department should be used to keep such people in custody until we could satisfy ourselves - by the FBI clearance process - that they did not mean to do us harm.

"Given those circumstances, I respectfully submit that it is unfair to criticize the conduct of the members of my staff during this period. In light of the imperative placed on these detentions by the Department, I would not have expected them to reconsider the [hold until cleared] detention policy in the absence of a clear warning that the law was being violated. It is clear in the Draft Report that this did not occur until January 2002. When the issue was squarely presented, it is apparent that they promptly did the right thing; they changed the policy."

(For more on the Justice Department Inspector General report, see here.) What is to be said of a man who stood a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States and now feels free to defame his country as he has done?

UPDATE: Tigerhawk comments in "The Gorebot: Attacking America from the fountainhead of jihad." Michelle Malkin provides a comprehensive takedown in "Al Gore slanders America."

In a note at SteynOnline (right column), Mark Steyn adds: "With this speech, Sheikh al-Gore sets an impressive new standard of insanity that even star performers like Kerry, Dean, Kennedy, Leahy and Biden will find very hard to match."