[digg-reddit-me] Representative Steve King, Republican from Iowa, yesterday stated:
Obama will certainly be viewed as a savior for them [referring to Al Qaeda]…
I will tell you that, if he is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al-Qaeda, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they will declare victory in this War on Terror.
Despite a rebuke from Mr. McCain, Mr. King is standing by his remarks.
Mr. King did promise later that if
…we elect Obama to the presidency and he declares defeat, if they don’t dance in the streets, I will come and apologize to you and everybody in America.
We’ll have to remember in November – after Mr. King loses his seat in Congress as he deserves to – to rub this trash in his face.
Mr. Obama, of course, retained on the high road but rightly pointed out that our intelligence agencies have reported that in fact the Iraq war has played into Al Qaeda’s hands. He then scoffed:
But I have to say that Mr. King and individuals like him thrive on offensive or controversial statements as a way to get in the papers, so I don’t take it too seriously. I would hope Sen. McCain would want to distance himself from that kind of inflammatory and offensive remarks.
I’m sure we’ll see much more of this in the coming campaign – no matter how much Mr. McCain condemns it. This is sure to be one of the right wing propaganda machine’s main talking points against Mr. Obama (or Ms. Clinton). Although Mr. Obama’s response was adequate, I’d like to see a stronger response from him, and for him to pivot to his forward-looking strategy. Something like this:
I applaud Senator McCain for condemning these attacks. As I have said many times before, the Senator has a distinguished record of public service and he has, as I have, committed himself to running a clean and issue-based campaign. I have many disagreements with Senator McCain – one of which is about the strategy America must pursue in the War on Terrorism. Men like Representative King degrade our politics by trying to turn disagreements about strategy into virtual treason. I believe the best way to attack Al Qaeda is to focus our military and intelligence resources on Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Al Qaeda and Bin Laden are still hiding nearly seven years after they attacked America on September 11. Senator McCain disagrees, and I respect that. But both of us want to protect American lives and interests – and whichever of us wins the coming election, we will do whatever we must to protect the United States – and Al Qaeda knows that. Congressman King should be ashamed that he is trying to play politics with national security. Republicans are not the only people who are fighting to protect American lives – there are intelligence officers, soldiers, diplomats, and politicians who are Democrats, Republicans, and independents. As Americans, we must unite in the face of the evil of organizations like Al Qaeda – and those who seek to divide us against ourselves, to portray our political opponents as friends of terrorists – they only serve to distract us from the real challenges we face. I would call on any Democratic office holder to withdraw from the Democratic party for comments like that. But I am thankful that Senator McCain has condemned these remarks as he has.