On a Florida radio talk show last week, US House of Representatives member Tom Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado and a member of the House International Relations Committee, angered Muslims by answering a rather hypothetical question. A press release issued by the Muslim Public Affairs Council reports the following colloquy:
After being asked what the U.S. should do in response to a nuclear 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."
Muslim groups have called on Tancredo to apologize. The Denver Post reported yesterday that Tancredo said: "I'm not suggesting we do it. I have nothing to apologize for in that respect. I'm simply saying to have a good discussion on this issue, a thorough discussion on what is perhaps the most serious kind of possible situation we could face as a civilization, that you cannot simply take things off the table because they are uncomfortable to talk about."
