U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo clarifies 'nuke Mecca' comments

July 22, 2005

Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has clarified his earlier statement that "you could take out their holy sites," in the event of a nuclear attack upon the U.S. by terrorists. Rep. Tancredo has refused to make any apologies, saying "When we bombed Hiroshima, when we bombed Dresden, we punished a lot of people who were not necessarily (guilty). Not every German was a member of the Nazi Party. You do things in war that are ugly." However, Tancredo emphasized that he was speaking hypothetically and not necessarily suggesting policy.

The remarks, made in a July 15th radio interview, hosted by Pat Campbell of WFLA in Orlando, Florida, have drawn support from conservatives groups such as and, and have offended the American Muslim community. In the interview, Tancredo discussed his request for information from the Justice Department regarding the claim of evangelical Christian journalist that al-Qaida has smuggled multiple nuclear weapons into the U.S.