By now you’ve heard about this via CNN.com:
Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo’s campaign stood by his assertion that bombing holy Muslim sites would serve as a good “deterrent” to prevent Islamic fundamentalists from attacking the United States, his spokeswoman said Friday.
“This shows that we mean business,” said Bay Buchanan, a senior Tancredo adviser. “There’s no more effective deterrent than that. But he is open-minded and willing to embrace other options. This is just a means to deter them from attacking us.”
On Tuesday, Tancredo warned a group of Iowans that another terrorist attack would “cause a worldwide economic collapse.” IowaPolitics.com recorded his comments.
“If it is up to me, we are going to explain that an attack on this homeland of that nature would be followed by an attack on the holy sites in Mecca and Medina,” Tancredo said. “That is the only thing I can think of that might deter somebody from doing what they would otherwise do. If I am wrong, fine, tell me, and I would be happy to do something else. But you had better find a deterrent, or you will find an attack.”Tom Casey, a deputy spokesman for the State Department, told CNN’s Elise Labott that the congressman’s comments were “reprehensible” and “absolutely crazy.” Tancredo was widely criticized in 2005 for making a similar suggestion.
And if you look at the comments here and here, you will note that 85% of the respondents seem glued to the idea of a “waving flowers in the meadows” approach to Islam.
Yeah, right, like that’s ever worked.
I am a big fan of author Orson Scott Card. Card is one of the best writers that the United States has ever produced and he lives comfortably on the east coast. You might recognize the name of his best known book which has spawned a long series of sequels, Ender’s Game.
Well, it just so happens that the last time Tancredo made a similar suggestion as in the above news report, I made this comment on Jihad Watch on July 18, 2005:
Yada, yada, yada.
I can promise you — if even one WMD goes off in the United States, the bombing of Mecca would just be the start.
How much patience do you all really think the United States has as a people? It is great but finite.
A nuclear attack on American soil or any American possession would ignite a conflict that hasn’t been seen on this planet since WW2 — and Islam has been asking for a reckoning for too long. I say if they are truly barbaric enough to strike at the one Superpower with such ferocity, then we will be well within our rights to exact a punishment that should be sufficient enough to make them wish they’d never been born.
(Warning Spoiler Ahead for those who might want to read Orson Scott Card’s writings) There’s a book called ‘Ender’s Game’ — in that book the hero, Ender, is confronted by a vicious bully that just simply will never give the hero peace or a sense of security. This bully sadly underestimates the hero, thinking him weak-willed and cowardly. Ultimately the hero strikes out brutally and swiftly, killing his enemy. And the reasoning is simple — you don’t just maim a deadly enemy. You destroy it so it can never seek you out again or go after your friends or loved ones. You cut out the cancer, basically.
Surely not by coincidence, a few months back I completed reading another part of the Ender Series published in 2005, ‘Shadow of the Giant’, and wouldn’t you know it, when I thought I was sitting down to get away from the drudgery and evil of Islam in my spare time, I was confronted inside the covers of that book by Islam! Chapter Twelve is even titled ‘Allahu Akbar’.
Without giving away the plot of any part of the Ender Series, I can say this much, and get to what I have been leading up to in a long-winded fashion. In the future of our Earth that is the setting for the geo-political science fiction of the Ender Universe, Mecca and Medina have long ago been reduced to nuclear-radiated slag heaps and this epiphany is unveiled for the reader in ‘Shadow of the Giant’ without fanfare or comment; simply matter-of-fact.
Tancredo is not crazy or stupid. He is brave and wise, and we would do well to stop allowing members of the State Department to toss derisive remarks at him as if he is some childish lunatic, especially while they are under the sway of a President George W. Bush, who apparently doesn’t have the sense, courage or brains enough to launch the overdue series of attacks upon Iran’s nuclear ambitions to prevent any such need for retaliation such as Tancredo describes or author Card predicts.
Frankly, to everyone that believes it insane and wrong to warn the Islamic world that we would indeed strike back at Medina and Mecca in the event of a WMD attack upon the United States of America, I have but this to say: you are spineless and stupid and you should also return your paychecks if you are on the U.S. government’s payroll.
I’m sorry, but did you expect me to be nice about this and just fall in line? You know me better than that by now.
And yes, I do happen to cast a long shadow. I love that bit of irony this evening.
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I agree completely with tgusa our whole culture has been femininzed. Mush to our detriment. Read this very interesting discussion on the subject.
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/008277.html
Whenever anyone gets silly about the idea of using the force necessary to defeat a ruthless enemy, simply remind them that it didn’t take 1 atom bomb to get Japan to surrender. It took 2.
Now we face 1.5 billion people that worship death. Response to a WMD Islamic terror attack may require 2, 3 or more nuclear strikes before all is said and done.
And that’s not me reveling in destruction, that’s just simple deductive reasoning.
What’s wrong with Michael Medved?
Right now, he’s discussing various Jihad activities, and he’s railing against Tancredo’s threat to nuke Mecca, and he’s obsessed with what might happen (as far as Muslims go) if we actually did it? All the callers to him are pointing out that Muslims hate us anyway, and nuking them can’t increase it any further, and he’s busy pointing out how the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are our allies, and how majority of Saudis support al Saud.
He’s such a fucking moron!!!! His callers - something different completely!
I’d keep open the option of nuking all of dar ul Islam as a follow up, if that didn’t suffice. Cairo, Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad, Dhaka, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Djakarta, Teheran, Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Baghdad (sans US troops), Khartoum, Abuja, et al.
From my article The Road to Victory in Iraq Runs Over Iran and Islam:
tgusa,
OK, if we have to do this, then lets do it.
In addition to an economics class, you apparently also need a sociology class. ‘Generation X’ is an accepted sociological term use to identify people who were adolescents in the 1990’s, much like the term ‘Baby Boomers’ refers to those born in the population ‘boom’ in the decade that follows WWII. The made-for-TV X-games, I believe, borrows the ‘X’ from the term ‘generation X,’ not the other way around. I use the term generation X to describe that predominantly liberal subset of 20-something Americans who vehemently oppose war as ‘violence,’ not to refer to skateboarders. How’s the weather on planet retard?
I don’t agree that we should attack Iran now, and since we haven’t, it must mean that people smarter than you and in positions of greater authority also think it’s too early to attack Iran, now doesn’t it? Don’t you think that Pres Bush, who’s driving this bus, isn’t itching to smoke more ragheads? He hasn’t done it BECAUSE ITS NOT TIME YET! I found common ground with FH to avoid escalating this discussion after we both made our opinions clear. It’s how I show respect to him for publishing this excellent blog and allowing me to post comments on it. You evidently can’t leave well enough alone, so I’ll continue:
After we level Iran and Iran disables the Gulf States’ petroleum-producing ability, and Russia hates us too much to sell us oil, and the price of crude tripes (at least), then what are we going to run our ships, aircraft, and HUMVEEs on? Your jingoism? We consume MILLIONS of gallons of petroleum fuels in OIF and OEF alone. It’s one of the biggest expenses the military has even at today’s prices. If the war in Iraq costs $12 billion a month, and congress is flat out refusing to continue paying that, then how will the military pay for an extended and involved campaign against Iran? Do you have $12 billion you can donate to the cause? I bet if you were president you’d have Congress disbanded for treason, right?
About Iran; they’re not getting stronger, as a nation they’re getting weaker. Yes, they’re getting closer to acquiring nuclear weapons-grade technology, but in every other way they’re weakening as a nation. A revolution is a REAL possibility in Iran. Unemployment, tax revenue, social programs, and basic services are all dismally inadequate right now in Iran, and getting worse. Public opinion of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad are at an all-time low, and also getting worse every day. You act as if you think we’re not doing anything in Iran right now. Our intelligence services and black ops are already very busy in Iran, laying the ground work for change. I promise you that. If all-our war is the only thing that will please you then it’s a good thing you’re not in charge of the USA. War is not a means to you, it’s an end in itself. You don’t want to affect change in the world you just want to kill people and blow stuff up.
If there’s a decent chance of an organic revolution in Iran over the next 24-36 months, why would we PAY DEARLY for something that we might be able to get FOR FREE if we just keep doing what we’re doing for a LITTLE BIT longer? We are approaching Iran the EXACT same way we approached the USSR in the cold war, and WE WON. I keep saying that invading Iran will always be an option, but our best chance for lasting change in the middle east is to provide them the means to take out their own garbage. 24 Months from now, if things haven’t changed or have even gotten worse, lets talk about invading Iran and starting WWIII before they detonate a thermonuclear device on our soil or Israel’s.
Those were some exceptionally well written comments folks. Can’t say as I disagree with Tancredo. Wasn’t it bin Laden who talked about people siding with the strong horse over the weaker horse. We need to be the strong horse. Sooner rather than later.
Have trouble with reading and comprehension parrot? I was right on target with you and your feelings laced post proves my point. Did I mention attacking Iran, No. Genxer huh, still playing with bicycles and skateboards? Hey we did that as well when we were about 12 years old and then we grew up. And guess what if a 12 year old can do it, it isn’t extreme, what a joke. It is time for you to do the same, put down your toys and try using your shrunken head for what it was designed for, thinking. You think I live on planet retard that’s great! I cannot say how happy I am that I am considered a retard by the likes of you. Tell me parrot, what allied country do you advise we attack ala Kosovo? Were you in on that decision too, my guess is yes. With fools like you who needs the Iranians attacking us as your policies will hand our country to them, you will dawn your hijab and fall in line just like Nancy. The islamists have been fooling you from the get go and they continue to do so to this day. Ya know, I am sick of the gen x ers telling us how to operate as they are still living with their parents playing with kid’s toys and pretending it is extreme. Stick to your games and let the adults sort this out, your plan calls for more of the same. Prior to WWII we were not equipped to fight a two front war but we managed just the same, if you had been there the Nazis would have no doubt won out. We can all count our blessings that we had a country of real women back then and that we still have a substantial number among us today. Why don’t you admit it many in your generation are still stuck in childhood, you think the world is one big party and you would rather play games than confront the enemy. Wake up before your generation goes down as the worst generation in American history. You can pray all day long but God helps those who help themselves. If you are incapable of helping yourself then, cryin wont help you prayin wont do you no good. Led Zepplin.
“I demand, in the name of humanity, that the Black Stone will be crushed, its mortar scattered in the wind,
that Mecca will be destroyed,
and Muhammed’s grave will be dishonored!
That’s the way to discourage fanaticism.”
(”Je demande, au nom de l’humanité, à ce qu’on broie la Pierre-Noire, pour en jeter les cendres au vent, à ce qu’on détruise La Mecque, et que l’on souille la tombe de Mahomet. Ce serait le moyen de démoraliser le Fanatisme.”)
Gustave Flaubert, 1878.
Well said FH. There is indeed a huge risk to waiting. I pray for resolution in this because it could very well kick off WWIII whether we do it now or in three years. It’s easy for we Gen X-ers to think of war the way that Hollywood portrays it, which is simply isn’t. I just want to be sure people understand the gravity of it. I understand that we didn’t choose this, it was forced upon us. Good points all, FH.