Murray�s
bin Laden comments �outrageous,� says Vance
Senator praises Osama,
criticizes U.S.
Seattle, WA � Today The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver reported that U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) told a group of local students that Osama bin Laden had done good things for Afghanistan and the Third World, and asked whether the people of poverty-stricken countries would have a better view of the United States if we had followed bin Laden�s example.
Here�s an excerpt from the Columbian article:
� �We�ve got to ask, why is this man (Osama bin Laden) so popular around the world?,� said Murray, who faces re-election in 2004. �Why are people so supportive of him in many countries � that are riddled with poverty?
� �He�s been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven't done that.
� �How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that rather than just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan?��
Chris Vance, chairman of the Washington State Republican Party, said Murray�s comments were not only offensive but untrue.
�It is absolutely outrageous and despicable to imply that the American government should learn a lesson from the madman who murdered thousands of American citizens,� said Vance. �I know Senator Murray has a habit of sticking her foot in her mouth, but this goes way beyond a simple gaffe.
�Patty Murray sent the message to these students that the United States somehow deserved or brought on the September 11 terrorist attacks. I think all decent people can agree that we most certainly did not, that this was an unprovoked attack of terrorism. And where on earth does Senator Murray get the idea that Osama bin Laden built roads, schools and day cares? He ran terrorist camps in Afghanistan that trained the killers who carried out the 9/11 monstrosities. It is the American government and the American people who lead the world in helping people of impoverished countries, not murderers like bin Laden.
�If Patty Murray really believes what she said, she should think twice about running for re-election. It�s one thing for her to be wary of engaging in war, but to say these kinds of outrageous and untrue things is just beyond the pale.�
Vance called on Murray to immediately retract and apologize for her comments.
>
> | The problem would not be miscomprehension, but a total lack of
> | comprehension. If a newspaper article had the quantity 10 Mg, the vast
> | majority of the public (at least in the U.S., and probably most places)
> | would either have no idea what it meant or they would think it was saying
> 10
> | milligrams.
>
> You can blame this on your leaders of education. I personally think it's an
> absolute crime to deny schoolchildren basic common knowledge of the SI
> system in this day and age. No different from the Taliban banning anything
> western to be shown, worn or even discussed in their own country. That's
> how we see the US from outside the US.
>
> When I was a kid, even though there was no talk of converting to SI, I was
> still taught that the small letter was used for units smaller than the base
> unit and the capital letter used for those larger than the base unit.
>
> To learn that this was deliberately never taught in US schools is the worst
> form of disinformation one can ever imagine.
>
> Definitely NO points awarded to the US Secretary of Education, or to the
> states' version of this very important position.
>
> Mike
>
