Washington, NU Online
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) welcomed remarks by several Republican presidential candidates repudiating threats made by fellow White House hopeful Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) to attack Islamic holy sites.

The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group also called on Tancredo to retract and apologize for remarks he made last week advocating threats to bomb the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as part of his proposed anti-terror policy.

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"The Republican candidates and the Department of State are correct in  rejecting threatened attacks on Islamic holy sites as a deterrent to terrorists," CAIR said in its press statement.

"Representative Tancredo’s extreme and counterproductive proposal to threaten Mecca and Medina fails any reasonable test for strategic viability. It only serves to further damage our nation’s interests and image in the Muslim world and will inevitably be used as rhetorical fodder by extremists," CAIR said.

According to CAIR, America’s relationship with Islam and Muslims worldwide would be a central issue for the administration of the next president, whoever that might be.

"We call on Representative Tancredo to retract his inflammatory statements and to apologize for fanning the flames of international mistrust and hostility. We also urge every other presidential candidate to state how her or his leadership would win back the
international support, particularly in the Islamic world, that America has lost in recent years," CAIR said.

Colorado Rep. Tancredo, R-Colo, a Republican presidential hopeful said during a campaign stop in Iowa recently that the best way he could think of to deter a nuclear terrorist attack on the U.S. was to threaten to retaliate by bombing Islamic holy sites.

Tancredo, the Colorado congressman told about 30 people at a town hall meeting in Osceola, Iowa, that he believed such a terrorist attack could be imminent and that the U.S. needed to hurry up and think of a way to stop it.

"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 at the Family Table restaurant. "Because that’s the only thing I can think of that might deter somebody from doing what they otherwise might do," he said.

Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia, are Islam’s holiest cities. All able-bodied Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage there at least once in their lives. Tancredo’s comments were recorded and posted on the Web site iowapolitics.com.

His comments had reached parts of the Muslim world. In Lahore, Pakistan, at least one U.S. flag was burned during street demonstrations against Tancredo.

Campaign spokesman, Alan Moore, said Tancredo stands by his statement.  This isn’t the first time Tancredo has suggested taking extreme action against Mecca and Medina.  In 2005, he drew international criticism after he told a radio talk show host that "you could take out" Islamic holy sites if terrorists ever launched a nuclear attack against the United States.

However, during a Republican presidential debate in Iowa over the weekend, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson said, "I sincerely believe that bombing religious artifacts and religious holy sites would do  nothing but unify 1 billion Muslims against us."

Earlier in the week, Tom Casey, a deputy spokesperson for the State Department, said: "It is absolutely outrageous and reprehensible for  anyone to suggest attacks on holy sites, whether they are Muslim, Christian, Jewish or those of any other religion." Casey called Tancredo’s proposal "absolutely crazy."

CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. (ant/dur)