Gore Criticizes Bush’s Coup Comments

WASHINGTON —  Vice President Al Gore denounced Texas Gov. George W. Bush on Friday for appearing to praise last month’s military coup in Pakistan, saying it raised serious questions about his ability to lead the nation.

In an interview with a Boston television station Wednesday, Bush, the Republican presidential front-runner, was asked to name the leaders of four world hot spots, including Pakistan. He managed to name just one, the president of Taiwan.

But in the exchange with the reporter over Pakistan, Bush appeared to condone the recent coup that brought Gen. Pervez Musharraf to power, dislodging the elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

“The new Pakistani general, he’s just been elected--not elected, this guy took over office. It appears this guy is going to bring stability to the country and I think that’s good news for the subcontinent,” Bush said.

Gore, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, who currently trails Bush in polls, said: “The issue here is not whether presidential candidates can pass a pop quiz, but whether they have the basic foreign policy knowledge necessary to protect America’s interests and security around the world.”

Bush’s communications director, Karen Hughes, said Gore should have checked with the State Department before issuing his statement.

“Gov. Bush agrees with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and State Department spokesman James Rubin, who welcomed Gen. Musharraf’s pledge to work for a return to democracy,” Hughes said in a statement. He said Bush was not endorsing the coup, but was stating his interpretation of events as they stand.

Reaction to Bush’s performance on the surprise quiz was mixed.

“I thought it was, shall I say, a pop quiz that not everybody could answer. . . . I think the real question is where do you want to take the country and how are you going to get there?” said Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley.

“The issue is not one of memorization of heads of state,” said Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer. “The real issue is what the governor’s father once called ‘the vision thing.’ . . . The governor’s staff begs us to ignore the issue of whether he knows the names of foreign heads of state and focus instead on his foreign policy vision. But it is that vision which is so badly out of focus.”