Even the State Department thinks Tom Tancredo is "absolutely crazy"

GOP presidential candidate Tom Tancredo created a lot of buzz in 2005 for saying that the United States should consider bombing Muslim holy sites if the US was attacked with nuclear weapons:

“Well, what if you said something like - if this happens in the UnitedStates, and we determine that it is the result of extremist,fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites,”Tancredo answered.

When the media brought the issue up again a few days ago, Tancredo went even further:

“If it is up to me, we are going to explain that an attack on thishomeland of that nature would be followed by an attack on the holysites in Mecca and Medina,” the GOP presidential candidate said. “Thatis the only thing I can think of that might deter somebody from doingwhat they would otherwise do. If I am wrong fine, tell me, and I wouldbe happy to do something else. But you had better find a deterrent oryou will find an attack. There is no other way around it. There have tobe negative consequences for the actions they take. That’s the mostnegative I can think of.”

Problem: Mecca and Medina are holy sites not only for Muslim extremists, but for all Muslims.  The worldwide Muslim population is approximately 1.61 billion.  Does Tancredo really feel like creating one billion more US enemies with one click of the button?

Even Condoleezza Rice's State Department called the idea "crazy":

Tom Casey, a deputy spokesman for the State Department, told CNN’sElise Labott that the congressman’s comments were “reprehensible” and“absolutely crazy.”

Still, the Tancredo Campaign is standing by what their boss said:

“This shows that we mean business,” said Bay Buchanan, a seniorTancredo adviser. “There’s no more effective deterrent than that. Buthe is open-minded and willing to embrace other options. This is just ameans to deter them from attacking us.”

Dear lord!  You plan to deter terrorism with nukes?  Since when was this the Cold War?  If Bill Richardson is the ultimate diplomat among the candidates, Tancredo is the polar opposite.

Comments

[George]

Great plan for peace. This akin to what 7th graders do when someone pisses them off in the cafeteria.