Posted on 07/24/2005 3:10:02 PM PDT by 4.1O dana super trac pak
By now, many people in America - and likely around the world - are familiar with my statements regarding a possible response to a nuclear attack on U.S. cities by fundamentalist Islamic terrorists.
Without question, my comments have prompted strong reactions from many quarters, but they have also served to start a national dialogue about what options we have to deter al-Qaeda and other would-be Islamic terrorists.
Many critics of my statements have characterized them as "offensive," and indeed they may have offended some. But in this battle against fundamentalist Islam, I am hardly preoccupied with political correctness, or who may or may not be offended. Indeed, al-Qaeda cares little if the Western world is "offended" by televised images of hostages beheaded in Iraq, subway bombings in London, train attacks in Madrid, or Americans jumping to their death from the Twin Towers as they collapsed.
Few can argue that our current approach to this war has deterred fundamentalists from killing Westerners - nor has it prompted "moderate" Muslims and leaders of Muslim countries to do what is necessary to crack down on the extremists in their midst who perpetuate these grisly crimes.
That being the case, perhaps the civilized world must intensify its approach.
Does that mean the United States should be re-targeting its entire missile arsenal on Mecca today? Does it mean we ought to be sending Stealth bombers on runs over Medina? Clearly not.
But should we take any option or target off the table, regardless of the circumstances? Absolutely not, particularly if the mere discussion of an option or target may dissuade a fundamentalist Muslim extremist from strapping on a bomb-filled backpack, or if it might encourage "moderate" Muslims to do a better job cracking down on extremism in their ranks.
People have accused me of creating more terrorism by making these statements. Indeed, we often hear that Western governments bring these attacks on themselves. Just days after the London subway attacks two weeks ago, for example, Tariq Ali, a prominent British Muslim activist, was quick to suggest that London residents "paid the price" for British support in the Iraq campaign.
A professor in Lebanon, Dr. George Hajjar, went even further, proclaiming, "I hope that every patriotic and Islamic Arab will participate in this war, and will shift the war not only to America, but to ... wherever America may be." Hajjar went on to say that "there are no innocent people," and referred to the victims of the attack as "collateral casualties."
These are fairly "offensive" statements, to be sure, but the sentiments expressed by Ali and Hajjar are sadly commonplace in the "mainstream" Muslim world, where justification for terrorist attacks like the ones that rocked London, New York and Washington is never in short supply.
Fundamentalist Muslims have advocated the destruction of the West since long before the attacks of Sept. 11, long before the Madrid, London and Bali attacks, long before the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, long before the attack on the USS Cole and the 1993 WTC bombing.
In many respects, the decision of "moderate" Muslims to acquiesce to these actions and even provide tacit justification for them is just as damaging to global safety and security as the attacks themselves.
Until "mainstream" Islam can bring itself to stop rationalizing terrorist attacks and start repudiating and purging people like Ali and Hajjar from its ranks who do, this war will continue. As long as this war goes on, being "offended" should be the least of anyone's worries.
Republican Tom Tancredo represents Colorado's 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
I like this guy.
He should leave the Republican party and go with the Constitutional party. He just seems like a better fit there rather than with the backbiting RINOs that are so heavily prevalent in today's GOP.
I smell muslim logic.
Momma always said, stupid iz as stupid duz
ZING!
If I were - God forbid! - a møøslimb, I'd have to think long and hard about worshiping a god who couldn't even protect his most sacred site from a mere atomic bomb.
Is he omnipotent or not????
There was nothing wrong with his original statement.
He did not need to apologize.
He wrote an excellent article here.
On 911, 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi. What would Bush do if 19 backpack nukes were detonated in America and 15 of the 19 were detonated by Saudi terrorists?
It was spared because of cloud cover.
Did I mention that Tancredo gave the islamofacists propaganda talking points? (*Squawk!*)
Not to be too picky, but Trancrado wrote an op-ed, not an editorial. In order to write an editorial, he would either have to own a newspaper of be on the editorial board of a newspaper.
Editorials are written by the editorial board of a newspaper. Columns written by others are op-eds.
Get it right.
IIRC (and I may not) it was spared on Nagasaki day only because it was clouded over. Nagasaki was the secondary target...
Yeah. They sure are acting intimidated...
It gets better.
She was shown just days ago that she was wrong, with official documentation, but she chose to "forget".
Must be a muslim thing.
By the way, did I mention that Tancredo gave the islamofacists propaganda talking points? (*Sqwak!*)
Wow, I didn't know I was such an expert. I'm honored.
Anyway, anyway you look at it tancredo gave the islamofascists propaganda points to use in the muslim world.
My reaction would be, "there's that nutcase Dane, making off-the-wall comparisons again..."
Fantastic grasp of geography there doggie...
Well, no doubt you sure know about nutcases well, probably from personal experience.
Hooray!! Tancredo rocks!! FINALLY, we have a REAL Politician, who tells it like it is!! I hope he runs for President. He's got my vote and my help! Tancredo for President 2008!!
... thus down goes the thread...
That's mighty big of you.
I didn't realize she was that cute!
Right?
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