GOP Sen. Lugar Gives 'Osama Mama' Murray a Pass
Friday, Dec. 27, 2002
newsmax.com
The wimpy Republican Party's nearly universal failure to criticize Democrat Sen. Patty Murray for her inaccurate, blame-America-first portrayal of mass-murdering terrorist Osama bin Laden as some sort of philantropist is astonishing. You probably missed what Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., had to say, so here's a replay from Fox News Sunday.
BRIT HUME: I want to ask you both about, sort of on the broader subject of the war on terrorism, comments made this week by your Senate colleague, Patty Murray of Washington, who is of course a member of the Democratic leadership.
She was speaking to some students out in her home state, and she said of Osama bin Laden, quote: "We've got to ask why this man is so popular around the world. He's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven't done that."
Senator Biden, what do you think of that characterization of Osama bin Laden by a member of the United States Senate, a member of the Democratic leadership?
'She Didn't Mean It'
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN, D-DEL.: Well, knowing Patty, I know she didn't mean it the way that came out. I assume what she was trying to say to those high school students was that the reason he's popular in various parts of the world is, along with the Saudis, they built 70,000 madrassas and they did go in there - he did go in there, with our help and millions of dollars, to, you know, kick out the Russians, et cetera.
But I think it was - I would hope if she had a chance to rephrase it, she would change that. The idea that Patty Murray thinks we should pattern ourselves after bin Laden is not - I don't believe she thinks that at all. I think it's a very bad choice of words.
'She Probably Regrets Doing So'
HUME: Senator Lugar?
LUGAR: Well, clearly, what Senator Murray and all the rest of us ought to be talking about is our own public diplomacy. What do we do in that area? I wouldn't want to use Osama bin Laden, as she did, and she probably regrets doing so, as sort of a benchmark. That is a tragic thought...
HUME: Well, hold on just a second, Senator. Let me just - let's show you what she actually did say when pressed about this in reaction. She said: "Osama bin Laden is an evil terrorist who's responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans. Bringing him to justice, nailing his terrorist network, and protecting our nation from further attacks must continue to be our government's highest priority."
Fails to Retract Her Praise of bin Laden
She then goes on to say nothing that said - that retracted any of the stuff she said about his humanitarian philanthropy, if you will, and so on. So the statement then, to some extent, stands. What about that?
'I Suppose She Would Say More'
LUGAR: Well, I suppose in further discussions, she would say more. The fact is, our government is trying to interdict all the funds that get to these charities, that have financed Osama bin Laden's charitable thoughts. He has not been able to do that all by himself.
And so we finally get to the ground point. We have got to be active not only to stop bin Laden and the terrorists and al- Qaeda, but in a proactive way to make a difference in the Middle East in terms of our own relationships.
'A Forgiving Attitude,' Unlike With Lott
HUME: Senator Biden, what both you senators are saying remind me a little bit of the immediate reaction to what Senator Lott said. Different issue of course, different arena, but a forgiving attitude toward a colleague who you feel perhaps with some empathy may have slipped up.
But I wonder if a slip-up of this kind, portraying this man as a humanitarian benefactor and going on to say the United States, in effect, is not, is something that can be tolerated in a member of the leadership.
BIDEN: Look, Brit, the fact is that, as [inaudible] said, there are millions of dollars that have been funneled - tens of millions of dollars have been funneled through charities to people who think bin Laden is the person who is funneling it to them, is responsible for them getting it. And so that is - that's factual.
Now, whether or not - the idea that he is a charitable person does not go along with that. But the notion that we have been trying to cut off, by definition, these so-called charities that are being funded to the tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars is a reality.
And so, the fact is, in some parts of the world, he is viewed by some people as - some very uninformed, ignorant people in deep trouble, that he is being charitable.
Like, I just got back from northern Iraq. It's not bin Laden, but you're right in northern Iraq, which I did for about 11 hours on the road, and the bottom line is you see these magnificent, beautiful mosques, all gleaming white. Looks like tile and marble. And I said, where the hell - heck did they come from? Well, that's the Saudis are building these mosques up here. And they've been people by extremist - of the Wahhabi Sunni faith. And so, it's hard for those people in those areas to distinguish between propaganda and mind-bending, you know, propaganda and generosity.
And as Dick said, we've been fighting for a while in the committee to get more focus on this whole notion of public diplomacy, getting our story out there.
HUME: All right.
BIDEN: And we're just not doing that well |
