Tancredo's Nuclear Option

Mary sent me a link to this story this morning, where everyone's favorite wingnut Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) answers that age-old question, "what if the terrorists nuke us?"

"Well, what if you said something like — if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites," Tancredo answered.

"You're talking about bombing Mecca," Campbell said.

"Yeah," Tancredo responded.

Tancredo's mouthpiece offered a quick clarification:

Spokesman Will Adams said Sunday the four-term congressman doesn't support threatening holy Islamic sites but that Tancredo was grappling with the hypothetical situation of a terrorist strike deadlier than the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"We have an enemy with no uniform, no state, who looks like you and me and only emerges right before an attack. How do we go after someone like that?" Adams said.

"What is near and dear to them? They're willing to sacrifice everything in this world for the next one. What is the pressure point that would deter them from their murderous impulses?" he said.

What should be disturbing about Tancredo's remarks isn't that he's suggesting we should go nuclear on Mecca when a more secular city would do — it's that he's suggesting that the proper response to a couple hundred thousand dead Americans is a couple hundred thousand dead Arabs who did nothing to harm us. I admit that the question of a proper response to a terrorist nuclear attack needs "grappling" with, but Tancredo clearly has nothing meaningful or moral to add to the debate.