Congressman: ‘They’re terrorists because we’re occupiers’
WorldNetDaily
December 30, 2009
A prominent member of Congress with libertarian ideals is blaming terrorism on the U.S. presence around the globe.
“They’re terrorists because we’re occupiers,” Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, said on the Larry King show.
Paul, whose isolationist perspective garnered him the support in 2008 of Howard Stern, also is known for his independent streak as well as his efforts to abolish the Federal Reserve.
Paul was joined on the King show by Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, a Democrat from Texas, as well as conservative author and personality Ben Stein.
They were discussing President Obama’s concern as he addressed the nation several days after an alleged terrorist reportedly tried to blow up a passenger jet en route from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Stein said the war on terror needs to be addressed.
“Let’s get to work on it like we mean it,” he said.
Lee advocated having Congress address the issue, and called for “viable behavioral assessment” of suspects. [Emphasis CAJ]
Paul added that the one factor that is missing is a question about the motive.
“We bombed Yemen 2 weeks ago,” he said. “He (the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab) did it because of the bombing.”
Reports confirm that there was an air strike by Yemeni jets – and possibly some from Saudi Arabia – on a remote region of Yemen where al-Qaida operatives reportedly were staying, killing as many as 30, just before Christmas.
However, reports also say Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian who apparently had trained in Yemen, apparently already had made his plans and purchased airline tickets by then.
A blogger at HotAir.com wanted to make two points.
“First, and most obviously, there is no U.S. occupation of Yemen or Nigeria. The only way the airline plot is a reaction to U.S. ‘occupation’ is if you accept the jihadist premise that there are no Arab/Muslim nation-states but rather only one Islamic caliphate waiting to be born.”
“Second, as usual, his facts are wrong,” the writer continued. “He uncritically accepts Abdulmutallab’s assertion that the bomb plot was retaliation for the U.S. airstrike on jihadi camps in Yemen. No so … this [suspect] had already been mobilized and had even bought his Northwest ticket before we struck.”
ABC’s Jake Tapper had raised the same issue, citing claims by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula of credit for the attack – and statements it was in retaliation for the Dec. 17 strike.
“In their words, ‘The oneness of our belief and brotherhood in Islam is what protected our young Nigerian man, the mujahid brother Omar Farouq to directly respond to his oppressive American enemy’s attack on the Arab Peninsula,'” Tapper wrote.
The article, with CNN video, continues at WND.
[CAJ note: Did the very liberal Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee sound more conservative than Congressman Paul by suggesting behavioral profiling? Maybe there’s hope for Washington yet…]
