Posted on 07/20/2005 10:56:40 AM PDT by SJackson
From Qur'an profanation to bombing Mecca Tancredo says No apology for 'Bomb Mecca' remark
By Karima Rhanem | Morocco TIMES 7/20/2005 | 2:57 pm
Facing mounting criticism, Republican Tom Tancredo on Monday refused to apologize for suggesting the United States could target Muslim holy sites if radical Islamic terrorists set off multiple nuclear attacks in American cities.
Tancredo made the remarks during an interview on the Pat Campbell Show in Florida last Thursday discussing what should be done in response to an attack on this country by “extremist fundamentalist Muslims.” Tancredo said one possible response would be to “take out their holy sites.” When Campbell asked if the congressman was “talking about bombing Mecca,” Tancredo replied, “Yeah.”
On Sunday, Tancredo released a statement saying he was just trying to figure out how the United States could deter future attacks. The statement said: "Among the many things we might do to prevent such an attack on America would be to lay out there as a possibility the destruction of these sites.”
A spokeswoman for the House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, called Tancredo's remarks irresponsible. "They do nothing to advance our national security and protect Americans from terrorists," Pelosi spokeswoman Jennifer Crider said.
The US State Department also issued a statement denouncing these remarks.
"These remarks are offensive and unacceptable and do not reflect US policy. We unequivocably reject the idea of targeting Mecca or any other civilian or religious site by anyone," said the statement.
"The US respects and honors all the great religions of the world, including Islam. The war on terror is about taking on those who commit acts of violence that are contrary to the teaching of Islam and other faiths. As the President has often said, our fight is with terrorists, not with any nation or religion," added the State Department release.
Meanwhile, a number of NGOs representing the Muslim and Arab communities in the USA were alarmed at Tancredo's comments, calling on for an immediate apology. These included the Arab American Institute (AAI) in Washington; CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).
"Congressman Tancredo's remarks are dangerous and not befitting a member of Congress," said AAI President James Zogby.
"This kind of speech from an elected official is harmful to the war on terror and does not represent the sentiments of the American people. Irresponsible language such as this only widens the gap between the US and the Arab and Muslim world. Tancredo should apologize immediately," added Zogby.
Former congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar, ADC President, said "While we must do all that we can to find terrorists and end their means to strike again, advocating for a nuclear attack against a holy place revered by the world's 1.2 billion followers of Islam is completely unacceptable and contrary to American values and tradition of freedom and tolerance of religion."
"These remarks have no place in the United States Congress," Oakar added.
CAIR said on Monday that it is working with leaders of the Colorado Muslim community to set up a meeting with Rep. Tom Tancredo over his recent remarks on the Mecca bombing.
CAIR said local and national Republican leaders should repudiate the congressman's remarks and Tancredo himself should apologize immediately to the people of Colorado and to the American Muslim community. The Washington-based council asked Muslims and other people of conscience to contact the Republican Party to ask for an apology and repudiation of the offensive statements.
Tancredo, however, rejected the idea of apologizing at his news conference, where the controversy overshadowed the topic he wanted to address, his introduction of comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
Tancredo's comments have already created negative response from government officials in Turkey, a secular country with a majority of Muslim population and a longtime ally of the United States. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul admonished Tancredo for speaking "irresponsibly and without thought of how far his statement would reach or what kind of problems they would create."
Ironically, Tancredo has taken the lead in chastising a Chinese official who, last week threatened that China would be willing to respond to perceived American aggression with nuclear weapons.
Tancredo remarks came seven weeks after the Newsweek Guantanamo story on US guards throwing a Qur'an on the toilet, which turned into a controversial topic of national discussion in the United States, and which evoked the anger of thousands of Muslims in the world.
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ABSURDITY REIGNS
Malcom Lagauche
uruknet.info-- information from occupied iraq
Possible target for a "smart bomb?"
July 20, 2005
George Bush says that the U.S. is not on a crusade. "We have nothing against Muslims," parrots U.S. government-official-after-government official.
Those words are meaningless. Every day, the anti-Muslim attitude in America grows. And, the only people speaking about the hatred are Muslims and a few concerned non-Muslim U.S. citizens. They are telling us that times are bad and are going to get worse, yet nothing is done.
Just a couple of days ago, the leading British Muslim spokesperson was disallowed entry to the U.S. No reason was given. And, he is not exactly a "militant," but a moderate voice for British Muslims for years.
I thought I had heard it all until I read an article published in USA Today on July 19. It began:
A Colorado Congressman told a radio talk show host that the U.S. could "take out" Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalists attacked the country with nuclear weapons.
Pat Campbell, talk show host of WFLA-AM, Orlando, Colorado, asked Congressman Tony Tancredo how the U.S. should respond if terrorists struck several U.S. cities with nuclear weapons. Tancredo answered:
"Well, if you said something like, if this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites."
Campbell then added, "You’re talking about Mecca," to which Tancredo responded, ‘Yeah."
My non-U.S. readers may have a hard time believing that conversations like this are commonplace in America, but they are. All over the country, people on the street talk abut the Muslim bogeyman. If one opposes this type of discussion, he/she is labeled "un-American" and dismissed as some kind of wacko.
Let’s look at the comments of the radio host and the Congressman. First of all, how would any group, or country for that matter, be able to hit the U.S. with nuclear weapons in several cities. There are about eight countries with an active nuclear weapon, and most of them took decades of work costing billions of dollars to perfect one. Even to talk of such a scenario is absurd and a waste of time.
Then, to bomb Mecca? Christian fundamentalists have perpetrated many violent acts in the U.S. — the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building; various bombings of abortion clinics; the bombing of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta; and other acts of violence that have killed human beings. Where is the outcry to demolish the Christian organizations to which these people belong?
It is so ludicrous to mention bombing Mecca if Muslims attack the U.S. In all probability, any act would be against the politics of the nation, not a religion. And, those who would commit such an act would do so, not in the name of Allah, but to show opposition to imperialism and violence against the Muslim world, or Arab countries with a Muslim population.
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article called "Why They Fight." In it, I cited a definitive study (the only one with complete data) published by Robert Pape. He recently released a book called Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. In an interview with Al-Jazeera News, he stated:
Islamic fundamentalism is not the primary driver of suicide terrorism. Nearly all suicide terrorist attacks are committed for a secular strategic goal: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory the terrorists view as their homeland.
Once you have a more complete picture you can see that the main cause of suicide terrorism is a response to foreign occupation, not Islamic fundamentalism, and the use of heavy combat forces to transform a Muslim society is only likely to increase the number of suicide terrorists, as now is happening.
Out of the thousands of people in the U.S. government, I would venture that fewer than a dozen, if any, have read Pape’s book or his 19-page summary posted online. If they did, they would not be talking like this nitwit from Colorado. Then again, if they did, it would break the big bubble of an excuse the U.S. uses to massacre Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Anti-Muslim attitudes are at an all-time high in the U.S. So-called normal people who have families, work for a living, and participate in community events, will quickly turn into bigots once the words "Islam" or "Muslim" are mentioned. I know because I have gotten into many a shouting match with individuals in banks, stores and on the street who make ludicrous remarks. I don’t start these arguments, but when my bank the teller makes an unsolicited anti-Muslim statement, I must object. Or the maintenance person for my copy machine. Or the clerk in the local 7-11. Then, when I use the word "bigot," they totally deny any prejudice. That is modern-day America.
I am waiting for the next abortion clinic bombing in the U.S. Not that I want to see it happen, but it is an inevitability. Then, I will ask why no American Congressman would advocate bombing the Vatican. After all, the Catholic Church is the leading anti-abortion organization on Earth.
When I went to the Google search engine to find a picture for my article, a few were included on the website www.globalsecurity.org. What captured my eye, however, is the menu in which they were placed: military. I can not conceive of how Mecca would be a military threat, but possibly Congressman Tancredo has spoken too soon and has let the cat out of the bag.
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Bomb Mecca? Lawmaker called fanatic for comment
The Associated Press
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkey's foreign minister Tuesday condemned comments made last week by a U.S. congressman that the United States could ''take out'' Islamic holy sites if there was a nuclear attack on America by Muslim fundamentalists.
''This was nothing but a fanatic speaking completely personally, irresponsibly and without thought of how far his statements would reach or what kind of problems they would create,'' Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said, according to the Anatolia news agency.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed Gul's remarks.
On Friday, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., was asked by a talk show host how the United States should respond if terrorists struck several of its cities with nuclear weapons.
''Well, what if you said something like - if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites,'' Tancredo answered.
''You're talking about bombing Mecca,'' said talk
show host Pat Campbell of WFLA-AM in Orlando, Fla.
''Yeah,'' Tancredo said in response.
The congressman later said he was ''just throwing out some ideas'' and that an ''ultimate threat'' might have to be met with an ''ultimate response.''
Gul said that he didn't think the people or the government of the United States shared Tancredo's view, according to Anatolia.
''This shows that this kind of fanatical person can emerge anywhere," Gul said.
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'We Could Take out Their Holy Sites'
By Anadolu News Agency (aa)
Published: Wednesday July 20, 2005
zaman.com
Republican Party Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo told in a radio show that "the US could take out Muslims' holy sites as a retaliation" if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons.
Associated Press (AP) agency reported Tancredo attending a radio show on Friday responded to a question asking, "How the country should respond if terrorists struck several US cities with nuclear weapons?" "Well, what if you said something like - if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites," Tancredo answered. When the radio show host asked, "You're talking about bombing Mecca." Tancredo replied, "Yeah". Tancredo's spokesperson said, "Tancredo does not support threatening holy Islamic sites but that Tancredo was grappling with the hypothetical situation of a terrorist strike deadlier than the September 11, 2001, attacks." Meanwhile, Mohammed Noorzai, the coordinator of the Colorado Muslim Council and a native of Afghanistan, said Monday Tancredo's remarks were radical and unrepresentative but that people in Tancredo's position do need to watch their words especially when it comes to sacred religious sites and texts.
Amen. It's about time someone stood up to the Islamofascists. They're always threatening America. It's about time they got to feel the shoe on their foot.
Hmm, they don't seem to like getting a taste of their own medicine.
Stop your own proxy army called al qaeda from doing attacks, and you won't have to worry about you silly sites.
Well, it appears any border reform ideas from Tancredo can now be officially declared DOA. Too bad too, he seems pretty up and up on the border thing, but this attack of stupid he suffered has totally neutralized his potential.
Maybe we should begin by bombing CAIR.
It's a profanity unto itself.
Sounds good to me. It's about time those precious places of hatred get targeted.
""The US State Department also issued a statement denouncing these remarks: "These remarks are offensive and unacceptable and do not reflect US policy. We unequivocably reject the idea of targeting Mecca or any other civilian or religious site by anyone," said the statement.""
Yet we are up against a cult that murders Christians, bombs their churches, and bans any other religion from its environs. Go figure...
Perhaps if the "mainstream" Muslims understood that we mean business, they would do a better job of policing their own.
Tancredo has the balls to say things that are not politically correct. Well, I say political correctness is a cancer eating at our way of life, and more power to him.
More's the pity.
I cannot possibly agree more...but I will! :o)
What ticks me off it that out leadership does not have the 'nads to state that islam is the enemy that we are fighting in the war or terror......and when someone does take a stand, they shoot him down.
Go Tom, Go!
If "moderate Muslims" want to keep Mecca intact, they'd better get moving on stopping terrorism.
Bunch of striped-pants candy-asses.
You would have thought State would have joined the real world after Colon Powell's departure...
Bunch of striped-pants candy-asses.
You would have thought State would have joined the real world after Colon Powell's departure...
Bunch of striped-pants candy-asses.
You would have thought State would have joined the real world after Colon Powell's departure...
Not to way to do it. He sounded like one of the weekend Imans preaching against the Jews and Crusaders.
If he wanted to identify the threats we'd respond to, theology from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and Egypt, financing from Saudi Arabia and Iran, logistic support and training from the above plus Syria and the soon to be democratic Hamastan, I'd agree with him. He'd be criticized, but it might give the background players pause, since he'd have been right. Better yet, he could have suggested identifying the enemy and addressing the problems before an attack rather than after.
"Let's bomb Mecca" is fun in internet conversation, but as effective as Turban Durban's pronouncements coming from a member of the foreign relations committee.
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