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U.S. Congressmen says USA could "take out" Islamic holy sites

19:08 2005-07-18
It’s become a common error mixing terrorists with Islam followers. The error turns inexcusable, when it is made by high ranking politicians.

As the AP reports, 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, Florida.

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," says the AP.

Although his spokesman stressed Tancredo was only speaking hypothetically, the threat was in line with an alarming tendency in the United States.

Last week the U.S. did not let one of Britain's most senior Muslim leaders, Dr. Zaki Badawi, head of the Muslim College, enter the United States without explanation. Late June the Bush administration officials staged a meeting with the representative of the Uzbek opposition who is linked to terrorist organizations of radical Islam.

No doubt, such a remark would cause a rising tide of discontent amid true followers of Islam. Unfortunately, it could be left unnoticed by U.S. allies and the world powers' leaders letting the United States act often recklessly and make steps which would deteriorate stability of the world.

British think tanks have already warned about danger of the UK’s close alliance with the United States. The experts believe the cooperation of Britain and the U.S. in Iraq puts Britain at particular risk of terrorist attack.