Congressman Admits 9/11 Error
The nation's first Muslim congressman said Tuesday that he erred in comparing the Bush administration's response to Sept. 11 to an event that led to Adolf Hitler's consolidation of power in Nazi Germany.
At an appearance before a group of atheists in Minnesota on July 8, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., called Sept. 11 "the juggernaut" that led to war, tolerating torture and increased discrimination against religious minorities.
"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that," he said. "After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it and it put the leader of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted."
Hitler used the 1933 burning of the Reichstag, the German parliament building, to suspend constitutional liberties.
"In hindsight, I wouldn't have used that reference point," Ellison told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday. "It was probably inappropriate to use that example, because it's a unique historical event, without really any clear parallels."
Ellison said he remains harshly critical of the Bush administration.
"I believe that they have exploited the fears that grew from 9/11, in order to pass legislation and even start wars they could have never gotten away with but for that tragedy," he said.
Ellison said he had gotten a call Tuesday afternoon from the Anti-Defamation League, an international group that opposes anti-Semitism, regarding the Hitler comparison.
"They told me they understood the point I was trying to make, but they didn't think it was the right way to use that historical example, because they thought any sort of comparison to the modern world we live in in some way diminishes the horror of the Nazi era," Ellison said. "I told them I feel they're right."
The ADL released a statement Tuesday calling on Ellison to apologize for his comments. The group's national director, Abraham H. Foxman, called the comparison "outrageous and offensive to all Americans."
"Whatever his views may be on the administration's response to 9/11 and the conduct of the war on terrorism, likening it to Hitler's rise to power and Nazism is odious and demeans the victims of 9/11 and the brave American men and women engaged in the war on terror," Foxman said. "Furthermore, it demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about the horrors that Hitler and his Nazi regime perpetrated."
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum also issued a statement Tuesday, saying: "Nazi Germany committed unprecedented crimes against Europe's Jews and others. Invoking the Holocaust to make a point about the United States is unfounded, minimizes the evil of Nazism, and is an offense to its victims."
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. At an appearance before a group of atheists in Minnesota on July 8, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., called Sept. 11 "the juggernaut" that led to war, tolerating torture and increased discrimination against religious minorities.
"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that," he said. "After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it and it put the leader of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted."
Hitler used the 1933 burning of the Reichstag, the German parliament building, to suspend constitutional liberties.
"In hindsight, I wouldn't have used that reference point," Ellison told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday. "It was probably inappropriate to use that example, because it's a unique historical event, without really any clear parallels."
Ellison said he remains harshly critical of the Bush administration.
"I believe that they have exploited the fears that grew from 9/11, in order to pass legislation and even start wars they could have never gotten away with but for that tragedy," he said.
Ellison said he had gotten a call Tuesday afternoon from the Anti-Defamation League, an international group that opposes anti-Semitism, regarding the Hitler comparison.
"They told me they understood the point I was trying to make, but they didn't think it was the right way to use that historical example, because they thought any sort of comparison to the modern world we live in in some way diminishes the horror of the Nazi era," Ellison said. "I told them I feel they're right."
The ADL released a statement Tuesday calling on Ellison to apologize for his comments. The group's national director, Abraham H. Foxman, called the comparison "outrageous and offensive to all Americans."
"Whatever his views may be on the administration's response to 9/11 and the conduct of the war on terrorism, likening it to Hitler's rise to power and Nazism is odious and demeans the victims of 9/11 and the brave American men and women engaged in the war on terror," Foxman said. "Furthermore, it demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about the horrors that Hitler and his Nazi regime perpetrated."
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum also issued a statement Tuesday, saying: "Nazi Germany committed unprecedented crimes against Europe's Jews and others. Invoking the Holocaust to make a point about the United States is unfounded, minimizes the evil of Nazism, and is an offense to its victims."
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Do you really think a Democracy is sustainable there?
Also, they are inclined to a Mob Mentality, with little degree of objective thinking; no proper education for the masses (back to the infrastructure problem), and they have what%u2019 referred to as %u201Cthe curse of natural resources,%u201D which means they have no reason to develop their society, prosper through education and economic initiative. So instead, people with wealth seek to dominate others, or they use religion as a prop to get the mob to move in the direction of their choice. This happens in non-Muslim countries, like Sierra Leone for example where their diamonds bring riches to a few, and devastation to the masses.
Posted by ban_islam at 09:43 PM : Jul 19, 2007
I consider your comments narrowminded, and bigoted; I don't know you. Nor do you know me.
You make the mistakes of addressing this terror(ble) situation by painting Muslims with a broad brush. It's kinda like saying "the only good Indian is a dead Indian," which was a rational for genocide.
I owe you no explaination, your folly is your own.
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By your defensive remark it seems clear you're muslim. You keep calling me narrowminded but fail to support your claim or adequately refute mine, so its nothing more than an ad hominem attack and my position is sound.
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You should go rent the movie "The Stone Merchant," it supports everything you believe.
Posted by finewoven
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Thanks for the suggestion but I get bored of hearing what I already know from other sources.
Posted by ban_islam at 05:29 PM : Jul 19, 2007
You should go rent the movie "The Stone Merchant," it supports everything you believe.
Posted by ban_islam at 05:16 PM : Jul 19, 2007
Another narrowminded comment, totally in error. Have you thought about presenting your vitriol to Fox News; personally I don't think even they would take you seriously.
The best solution for humanity is to ban this dark ages cult of hatred and death, concocted by a mass-murdering child-molester thief and charlatan who calls himself a "prophet of god." Banning Islam can also prevent a more protracted global war against Islam and the West.
I doubt anyone will listen to reason and we'll have this war anyways (since muslims will try to kill anyone who 'insults' or critizes their cult or their deranged 'prophet') but this would be the only solution to avoid deaths in perhaps the 100s of millions-assuming it is taken to its extremes.
Posted by finewoven
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You're either a muslim apologist-who's intent is to deceive readers on the true evil nature that is Islam or you're a leftist who's uninformed on this death cult, like most Americans. My intuition tells me you're the former-an apologist.
I disagree on your position that we shouldn't kill 100 "innocent people" to get 10 terrorists. In fact 9/11 can be blamed for that kind of irrational reasoning. Clinton had at least 13 opportunities to take out OBL before 9/11 and he refused because he was afraid of killing the civilians. Of course Osama went on to kill 3000 Americans, so your argument is patently absurd.
Not to mention westerners do all they can to limit collateral damage whereas muslim terrorists go out of their way to kill as many innocents as possible and also using them as human shields, as is done often by muslims in Palestine for instance.
cont'd below
As for your ludicrous notion of the 'terrorist bogeyman', either you think you're being clever or you're just an ignoramous. One only needs to open their eyes to what's going on in the muslim world-not to mention the attacks they've carried against us in the recent past to clue in.
Lastly terrorism isn't some random phenomena that we'll never understand let alone defeat, if anyone with half a brain has been paying attention they'd know where it comes from, what motivates it and hence how it can be defeated. Islamic terrorism is better known as 'Jihad' or holy war. Its prescribed by the Quran to ultimately Islamify the world. Muslims also use 'peaceful' means to destroy their enemy and take over.
Today that is massive immigration, population explosion, getting elected into power, giving more rights to muslims while taking away those of non-muslims and eventually abolishing democratic institutions and replacing them with Islamic ones under Sharia Law. Its a tried and true 'one-two punch' (jihad+power grabbing) of Islamic invasion and conquering of non-muslim lands (dar ul harb or house of war).