Congressman in 'bomb Mecca' controversy has form and power
db: The Washington Post reports that a Colorado congressman told a radio show host that the U.S. could "take out" Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons.
Rep. Tom Tancredo made his remarks Friday on WFLA-AM in Orlando, Fla. His spokesman stressed he was only speaking hypothetically.
Talk show host Pat Campbell asked the Littleton Republican how the country should respond if terrorists struck several U.S. 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," Campbell said.
"Yeah," Tancredo responded.
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." Read more.
Representative Thomas G. 'Tom' Tancredo (CO) is not a man without some power. He sits on the "Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights" - it's jurisdiction is as follows [see wwwc.house.gov] :
There shall be one subcommittee with functional jurisdiction: Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights
Right Wing News have an interview with Tancredo here which is well worth speed-reading. On the (flawed) 'Clash of Civilizations' he has this to say. "I happen to be a devotee of Mr. Huntington and believe it's true, it is a clash of civilizations. I believe that what we are fighting here is not just a small group of people who have hijacked a religion, but it is a civilization bent on destroying ours. Radical Islam has been the foe of Christendom for centuries. The most serious foe of Christendom. The battle ebbs and flows, peaks and becomes less intense, but it has been going on for centuries. We have never really been bothered by it, because the world was a place in which you could not really attack the United States physically. There were oceans separating us and if you did come, what were you going to come with? A gun, a rock, an arrow? But today it has all changed, it has taken on a different dimension."
Rep. Tom Tancredo made his remarks Friday on WFLA-AM in Orlando, Fla. His spokesman stressed he was only speaking hypothetically.
Talk show host Pat Campbell asked the Littleton Republican how the country should respond if terrorists struck several U.S. 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," Campbell said.
"Yeah," Tancredo responded.
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." Read more.
Representative Thomas G. 'Tom' Tancredo (CO) is not a man without some power. He sits on the "Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights" - it's jurisdiction is as follows [see wwwc.house.gov] :
There shall be one subcommittee with functional jurisdiction: Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights
Oversight and legislative responsibilities over the United States' efforts to manage and coordinate international programs to combat terrorism as coordinated by the Department of State and other agencies, including diplomatic, economic, and military assistance programs in areas designed to prevent terrorism, and efforts intended to identify, arrest, and bring international terrorists to justice;........ matters involving nuclear, chemical, biological and other weapons of mass destruction; ....... Implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other matters relating to internationally-recognized human rights, including sanctions legislation aimed at the promotion of human rights and democracy generally.
Right Wing News have an interview with Tancredo here which is well worth speed-reading. On the (flawed) 'Clash of Civilizations' he has this to say. "I happen to be a devotee of Mr. Huntington and believe it's true, it is a clash of civilizations. I believe that what we are fighting here is not just a small group of people who have hijacked a religion, but it is a civilization bent on destroying ours. Radical Islam has been the foe of Christendom for centuries. The most serious foe of Christendom. The battle ebbs and flows, peaks and becomes less intense, but it has been going on for centuries. We have never really been bothered by it, because the world was a place in which you could not really attack the United States physically. There were oceans separating us and if you did come, what were you going to come with? A gun, a rock, an arrow? But today it has all changed, it has taken on a different dimension."
posted by exoplanet at 1:45 PM
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