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| Senator Murray Defends Bin Laden Comments |
| 2003-01-09 |
| WASHINGTON — Sen. Patty Murray on Wednesday gave her first public defense of comments she made last month that seemed to praise terror leader Usama bin Laden for his humanitarian efforts. The Democratic senator from Washington, who has previously denied interview requests, said that she’s no big fan of the terrorist leader and that the media has misconstrued remarks she made to a group of advanced placement students in her home state on Dec. 18. "I have to tell you that it's really important that people don't twist or construe remarks that were made to an AP student group in a Vancouver high school," she told Fox News in a Senate corridor after attending a "power coffee" with the 13 other women senators on Capitol Hill. No, I think all they had to do was listen to the remarks...no twisting or construing required. "We all know -- everyone in this country knows -- that Usama bin Laden is an evil terrorist and in my remarks I told the students we're taking the right steps now. The question is what do we do next ... and it's an important question," Murray said. "The really important question is how do I get away from all these people asking me questions?" In the meeting with students, Murray asked why bin Laden is so popular in some places around the world. Her answer was caught on tape by the school’s video department. "He's been out in these countries for decades building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities and people are extremely grateful," she said. "He's made their lives better. We have not done that." Outcry against Murray's comments was immediate, even among some who think the United States should give more foreign aid to Afghanistan. "She should know better than that -- [bin Laden] is public enemy No. 1 and is behind despicable things. To use him for effect is outrageous," said Josh Feit, editor of The Stranger, Seattle's alternative weekly paper. Several experts said it’s true bin Laden has spent some of his money in the Sudan and Afghanistan on infrastructure projects such as building hospitals, schools and roads. But they say most of those roads were built to take soldiers to and from training camps, the schools built were madrasas, which often indoctrinate students to the bin Laden brand of Islam, and the hospitals were not intended for average Muslims but for injured Mujahadeen fighters battling the Soviets. Diplomats, biographers and aid workers all say bin Laden’s popularity does not stem from his benevolence, but from his message of hate towards Israel and the United States. "I think he developed a following because he became the embodiment of someone who would represent the powerless and confront the powerful," said Fox News contributor Dennis Ross, a former ambassador and director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. In fact, the United States is the largest international donor of aid to several countries where bin Laden is popular, and was so even before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Recently, the United States gave $320 million in aid to Afghanistan, mostly in the form of food and refugee assistance, thus providing 80 percent of the international relief given to that country. Some have also criticized the disproportionate response to Murray’s comments compared to the drubbing given to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who resigned from his leadership post after a huge public outcry over remarks he made regarding segregationist policies of the past. But there are others in Murray’s corner, including several in Seattle’s anti-war coalition who believe she is right. Wotta surprise. "I would believe that as a fundamentalist, he believes very much in the values of his religion and that he would have been providing charity," said Alice Woldt of the Church Council of Seattle. I believe that as a Christian and as a woman and as a sentient human being, Alice Woldt of the Church Council of Seattle should be horrified by Bin Laden's "values" and "fundamentalism" and she should be demanding Senator Murray's immediate resignation. Murray’s defenders have said her remarks were made off the cuff, but the tape showed the senator using those words as her closing statements, which may have left a lasting impression. The GOP is now seizing the moment. Republicans, and even President Bush, are said to be trying to draft Rep. Jennifer Dunn to run against Murray in the 2004 election. Go Jennifer! |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #3 Thanks emily for noticing that. Under bin Laden's brand of Islam, Murray would neither be seen nor heard, let alone a senator. |
| Posted by: Ben 2003-01-10 04:41:14 |
| #2 The more I think about it, the more ludicrous Patty's speech was. In Afghanistan, there was no need for day care centers--the women were forbidden to work! |
| Posted by: emily 2003-01-09 22:18:54 |
| #1 Call her Senator Foot-in-Mouth. How would you refer to the guy who said this: "Right now I should be in a bar in Texas, not the Oval Office. There is only one reason that I am in the Oval Office and not in a bar. I found faith. I found God. I am here because of the power of prayer." That is how former White House insider, David Frum quotes the President in his new book, "The Right Man." He had deliberately invited a Muslim and a Jew to the White House, in order to sustain his common-religions-of-Abraham delusions. The next day (Sept. 17, 2001) he spewed his infamous Islamic Center screech, "Islam is peace." Americans do not need a dependent personality in the White House, especially one like the current Saudi stooge. I'll give the last word to a respectable former President: "The price of liberty is: eternal vigilence." |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-01-09 21:07:56 |