# Tancredo: bomb Mecca as a deterrent **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 3, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325 "2007-08-03T19:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gladiadelmarre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@gladiadelmarre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladiadelmarre)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/41 "2007-08-04T00:18:06Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] And passage dishonestly snipped. [/quote] Show me where my statement about reprisals was limited to a particular time period or a particular means of reprisal. Otherwise you are the one who is dishonest. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/42 "2007-08-04T00:20:33Z")
[QUOTE=gladiadelmarre] Show me where my statement about reprisals was limited to a particular time period or a particular means of reprisal. [/QUOTE] …you said “after the war” in your first post. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/43 "2007-08-04T01:14:36Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] Truman wasn’t a smart man, but thank God he wasn’t that dumb. [/QUOTE] Actually, Truman _was_ a smart man. In terms of brainpower, he was right up there with Jefferson. He was also quite the accomplished pianist. I highly recommend that you read David McCullough’s biography _Truman_. While I don’t necessarily agree with Tancredo’s comments, it’s been pretty well established, I think, that at least _some_ members of the Saudi family have ties to AQ, and the royal family doesn’t seem to want to do much to counter the hatemongers within their borders. Let’s _not_ forget that the majority of the hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis. So to simply claim that nuking Mecca would be striking at a nation which has nothing to do with terrorism, is incorrect. Now, ideally, we’d use diplomatic channels to encourage the Saudis to clean up their act. However, given that _this_ administration knows as much about diplomacy as I do about how it feels to have a prolapsed uterus, and is close buddies with the Saudi family, the odds of _that_ happening are nonexistant. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/44 "2007-08-04T01:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=gladiadelmarre] Probably it’s in a history book somewhere. [/QUOTE] The Hebrew Exodus from Egypt is probably in a history book somewhere. Several, in fact, to my personal knowledge. That doesn’t mean it ever happened. [(We can be fairly sure it didn’t.)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6976426&highlight=finkelstein#post6976426) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/45 "2007-08-04T01:57:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Right and there is a difference. The USA used Nukes as a “deterrant” for decades. Using nukes is stupid, using them as a deterrant- not so much. I hope dues can see the difference. There’s a huge difference. We used the threat of nuclear weapons as a deterrent against the Soviet Union - a country. If Tancredo has said “if the Saudis attack America, we’ll bomb Mecca in retaliation” I might have argued that it was a bad idea but not a crazy one. But terrorists are not a country or a religion. Tancredo’s idea is like saying that if somebody robs a bank, we should go shoot the priest back in his hometown. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/46 "2007-08-04T02:00:31Z")
Gladiadelmarre, the thing about a message board format is all the posts you’ve made are still there for anyone to read. You should at least wait until the second page to deny writing the things you posted on the first page. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/47 "2007-08-04T02:13:11Z")
I say that we threaten that if there is another terrorist attack on the USA, that we will bomb Mecca…with Tancredo. (For the intelligence impared, I mean _We will drop Tancredo out of an airplane directly over Mecca without a parachute._) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/48 "2007-08-04T02:31:15Z")
There is one (more) flaw in this plan of Tom’s. Isn’t he providing an incentive for American terrorism to people who _want_ Mecca destroyed? Since we’ve already brought up Nazis in this thread, can I safely accuse a few Zionists or white supremacists of wanting to nuke Mecca? They could do a teeny, tiny false flag operation in the U.S., maybe hit someplace that they knew Tancredo’s wife would be… and then POW! no more Mecca. Victory all around! Chuck Palahniuk, in his book _Haunted_, has a remarkable short story about a group of people who thought like Tancredo, but on a larger scale. For a long time I thought Palahniuk was right – the only way to stop religious violence was to nuke the Vatican, Jerusalem, Mecca, Medina, and right on down the list to the major holy sites of every religion that’s ever been part of a war. Wipe them off the map and start fresh. I’ve aged a little since then, and I’m pretty sure it’s a bad idea. It’s tempting in its simplicity which is precisely what makes me think that it’s probably evil. There will probably not be peace between Israel and Palestine until one or both are wiped out, but for any third party to do the wiping is still unequivocally bad. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/49 "2007-08-04T02:35:09Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] So to simply claim that nuking Mecca would be striking at a nation which has nothing to do with terrorism, is incorrect. [/QUOTE] Has anyone said that Saudi Arabia has nothing to do with terrorism? Or has the point been made that the nation of Saudi Arabia is purportedly an ally? (And even if Saudi Arabia openly switched to support for al Qaida and their ilk, bombing Mecca and Medina would remain an incredibly foolish thing to do. Neither city has any ,ilitary significance, but the religious significance extends to roughly one in six people across the whole world. It would be like bombing Lourdes to punish France without considering that you would alienate a lot of Catholics across the whole world. How many enemies do we wish to create for the sake of showing how tough (and stupid) we are?) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/50 "2007-08-04T03:13:45Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] Has anyone said that Saudi Arabia has nothing to do with terrorism? Or has the point been made that the nation of Saudi Arabia is purportedly an ally? [/quote] I interpreted some of the comments made that if terrorists attacked the US going after Saudi Arabia would be the wrong thing to do, since they would have had “nothing” to do with the attack, even though it _is_ possible that they (or powerful elements within their country) could do so. Perhaps I over reached in my interpretation. > [@](#): > > (And even if Saudi Arabia openly switched to support for al Qaida and their ilk, bombing Mecca and Medina would remain an incredibly foolish thing to do. Neither city has any ,ilitary significance, but the religious significance extends to roughly one in six people across the whole world. It would be like bombing Lourdes to punish France without considering that you would alienate a lot of Catholics across the whole world. How many enemies do we wish to create for the sake of showing how tough (and stupid) we are?) I don’t believe I advocated bombing Mecca and Medina under any circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/51 "2007-08-04T07:51:42Z")
This gave me a chuckle: [QUOTE=the OP’s CNN cite] On Tuesday, Tancredo warned a group of Iowans that another terrorist attack would “cause a worldwide economic collapse.” [IowaPolitics.com](http://IowaPolitics.com) recorded his comments. [/QUOTE] What a clown. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/52 "2007-08-04T15:26:20Z")
[QUOTE=gladiadelmarre] Probably it’s in a history book somewhere. [/QUOTE] Yeah, you’re gonna fit in great here. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/53 "2007-08-04T17:08:11Z")
[QUOTE=Jurph] There is one (more) flaw in this plan of Tom’s. Isn’t he providing an incentive for American terrorism to people who _want_ Mecca destroyed? Since we’ve already brought up Nazis in this thread, can I safely accuse a few Zionists or white supremacists of wanting to nuke Mecca? They could do a teeny, tiny false flag operation in the U.S., maybe hit someplace that they knew Tancredo’s wife would be… and then POW! no more Mecca. Victory all around! [/QUOTE] What’s the point? The Romans’ destruction of the Jerusalem Temple did not destroy Judaism, and nuking Mecca would not destroy Islam. ---
**Author:** ![MILTBore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MILTBore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MILTBore)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/54 "2007-08-04T17:27:06Z")
Anyone who thinks that vaporizing enormous numbers of innocent civilians, including women and children that in those societies have about zero input into the political process, is a good “retaliation” for the acts of a small group of extremists and/or a completely different country is beyond a monster. It’s utterly amazing that this guy seems likely to just get off with this comment as if it were an everyday gaffe. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/55 "2007-08-04T17:58:19Z")
> [@gladiadelmarre](#): > > Probably it’s in a history book somewhere. [QUOTE=Cervaise] Yeah, you’re gonna fit in great here. [/QUOTE] What do you mean, “cite?” My local library is my cite! it’s gotta be in there somewhere ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/56 "2007-08-04T18:33:34Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] What’s the point? The Romans’ destruction of the Jerusalem Temple did not destroy Judaism, and nuking Mecca would not destroy Islam. [/QUOTE] He’s talking about (hypothetical) violent, xenophobic extremists. Rationality would not likely be their strong suit. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/57 "2007-08-04T18:36:45Z")
[QUOTE=MILTBore] Anyone who thinks that vaporizing enormous numbers of innocent civilians, including women and children that in those societies have about zero input into the political process, is a good “retaliation” for the acts of a small group of extremists and/or a completely different country is beyond a monster. It’s utterly amazing that this guy seems likely to just get off with this comment as if it were an everyday gaffe. [/QUOTE] It needn’t be **that** bad, if we gave them a few days’ advance warning to evacuate the city, and if we did not strike during the pilgrimage season. Of course, it still would be a very, very bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/58 "2007-08-04T18:43:30Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] It needn’t be **that** bad, if we gave them a few days’ advance warning to evacuate the city, and if we did not strike during the pilgrimage season. Of course, it still would be a very, very bad idea. [/QUOTE] Does Saudi Arabia have the infrastructure, or even the will, to evacute an entire city like that? Between the people who couldn’t get out in time, the people who would be killed during the panic to escape, the people who would die in the refugee camps (that would likely be around for years and years after the bombing), and the people who would die because they tried to rebuild the city before the radiation had cleared, I think we’re looking at a death toll scarcely lower than if we just dropped the bomb out of the clear blue sky. ---
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/59 "2007-08-04T22:15:23Z")
I was just wondering if this Tancredo statement about nuking Mecca and Medina will create a backlash against the West, similar to the extent that the Danish cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed or the granting of a knighthood to Rushdie did? Could this cause new unrest all by itself or will it be looked on (by the Islamic terrorists) as another in a series of assaults on Islam? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325/60 "2007-08-04T23:35:33Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] It is generally not considered an act of intelligence to threaten the holy sites of a billion or more people (residing in a reputed ally of this country) for the purpose of intimidating a few thousands of their co-religionists. The rest of the billion people–many of whom are actively opposing al Qaida and its related terrorist groups [/QUOTE] I’m not particularly obsessed with Islam, nor do I advocate bombing Mecca, Medina, or any population center, for that matter. But I keep seeing it asserted that “Many…are actively opposing al Qaida and its related terrorist groups.” While I don’t doubt that it’s true to some extent, I’d like to learn more about this opposition. I see almost nothing of it in the news here in America, and the evidence of it in international affairs seems to be indirect, oblique , buried, or missing. But I am assured it’s real. When I dare to talk face-to-face with actual faithful Muslims here in America, their criticism of al Qaida seems muted and perfunctory…and these are the ones who do not support it. When I read news articles about imams here and in Britain making pronouncements, they do not often sound like ringing condemnations of extremism. Perhaps my news is filtered. Where can I learn more about the great sustained effort the rest of Islam is making against extremists? Sailboat [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tancredo-bomb-mecca-as-a-deterrent/414325.md?page=4)