Democratic senator Patty Murray praises bin Laden, emulates Trent Lott

[whynot1.]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3547187.html

Democratic Sen. Murray's comments on Bin Laden create furor
Les Blumenthal
Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent

Published Dec. 21, 2002 MURR21

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sen. Patty Murray says she was just trying to prompt a thoughtful discussion when she told high school students the United States could maybe learn something from Osama bin Laden's efforts to help the poor.

Instead, the Washington state Democrat got her picture plastered online on the Drudge Report, became a hot topic on talk radio and had her patriotism questioned.

One of her possible Republican opponents in 2004, Rep. George Nethercutt, challenged her to a debate on the topic of Bin Laden.

Murray, in a telephone interview, said she was shocked by the Republican response to what she considered a free-ranging discussion that represented one of the best American values -- freedom of thought.

"I am astonished the Republican Party would try to spin out of control a conversation with high school students," she said. "Republicans have been trying for six months to use the war on terrorism for political purposes."

During an appearance Thursday before an honors class at Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Wash., Murray challenged students to consider why the United States was so poorly regarded by many Muslims while Bin Laden was considered a hero.

"We've got to ask, why is this man [Bin Laden] so popular around the world," Murray was quoted as saying in the Vancouver Columbian newspaper.

Murray said the answer may be unpopular, but worth considering.

"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."

Murray then went on to suggest the United States could have been viewed differently if it had done the same. "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 Iraq and go to Afghanistan?"

The response has been relentless. Murray's office was inundated with calls for her to appear on conservative television and radio talk shows. Rush Limbaugh did a piece on Murray's comments. Washington state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance issued two news releases calling on her to retract her statements and apologize.

"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," Vance said.

Murray, who in October voted against a resolution authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq, said she considered Bin Laden an "evil terrorist" and said bringing him to justice and dismantling his Al-Qaida terrorist network should be the U.S. government's top priority.

[Julienna]

Whynot,
The right wing is grabbing at straws. Ms. Murray was just stating the obvious.

[Hesperian]

The United Stated is a kaffir nation. It's not going to be seen in the same favorable light as Bin Laden. He is Muslim, we are not.

The U.S. has been sending large amounts of aid all over the world, not just to religious hot spots. In 1998, the U.S. government spent 11.4 billion dollars in foreign aid. Non governmental agencies, including American citizens, spent thirty billion more. It's just that people don't want to see it or want to consider it some zionist-capitalist plot to take over, impose our values, ruin the local economy, blah blah blah. If you look for bad you will find it, but at the same time you can excuse just about any bad behavior.

Would Bin Laden build schools or hospitals in a kaffir land? If he did, would he keep them free of his values and culture? If he won't, then why should we? Demands are being made of the U.S. that are not being asked of anyone else. Asking the U.S. to send money to the Taliban is like telling Saudi Arabia to support a Protesant school in South Sudan or a Hindu religious charity. If they don't, are the Sudanese or Krishna worshippers entitled to dislike them?

[whynot1.]

Here;s more:

http://www.tribnet.com/news/story/2356670p-2411454c.html

Bin Laden remarks give Murray grief

Les Blumenthal; The News Tribune

WASHINGTON - Sen. Patty Murray says she was just trying to prompt a thoughtful discussion when she told high school students the United States might learn something from Osama bin Laden's efforts to help the poor in the Arab world.

Instead, the Washington state Democrat got her picture plastered prominently on the Web, became a hot topic of conversation on talk radio and had her patriotism questioned by the head of the state Republican Party.


Even one of her possible Republican opponents when she faces re-election in 2004, U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt (R-Spokane), challenged her to a one-on-one debate on the topic of bin Laden.


Murray, in a telephone interview, said she was shocked by the Republican response to what she considered a free-ranging discussion that represented one of the best American values - freedom of thought.


"I am astonished the Republican Party would try to spin out of control a conversation with high school students," she said. "Republicans have been trying for six months to use the war on terrorism for political purposes."


During an appearance Thursday before an honors class at Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Wash., Murray (D-Shoreline) challenged students to consider why the United States is so poorly regarded by many Muslims while bin Laden is considered a hero.


"We've got to ask, why is this man (bin Laden) so popular around the world?" Murray was quoted as saying in The (Vancouver) Columbian newspaper. "Why are people so supportive of him in many countries that are riddled with poverty?"


Murray said the answer may be unpopular, but worth considering.


"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."


She added: "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 Iraq and go to Afghanistan?"


The response was relentless.


Murray's office was inundated with calls for her to appear on conservative television and radio talk shows.


The issue was featured prominently on the online Drudge Report.


Rush Limbaugh did a piece on Murray's comments. State GOP Chairman Chris Vance issued two news releases demanding an apology.


"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," Vance said."I know Senator Murray has a habit of sticking her foot in her mouth, but this goes way beyond a simple gaffe."


Vance was particularly critical of her for saying bin Laden had helped build day-care centers, pointing out that fundamentalist Islamic women don't work, so there's no need for day-care centers.


Nethercutt, sounding like a candidate, called Murray's comments "shocking, bizarre and uninformed. You have to wonder where Senator Murray has been living since September 11th."


Murray, who in October voted against a resolution authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq, said she considered bin Laden an "evil terrorist," and said bringing him to justice and dismantling his al-Qaida terrorist network should be the U.S. government's top priority.


But Murray said while the United States tracks down bin Laden and members of his terrorist organization, U.S. leaders also should consider the longer-term issue of improving relations with the Arab world.


She noted that the White House has created a special office, headed by a Madison Avenue advertising executive, to improve America's image.


"Having a challenging and thoughtful discussion about America's future reflects the best values of a free democracy," she said.


"To sensationalize and distort in an attempt to divide is not."


Exactly how much bin Laden has done to support schools, medical facilities and infrastructure remains conjecture in the intelligence community, though there is evidence he engaged in such activities, particularly in Afghanistan and Sudan.


A Defense Department fact sheet indicated bin Laden had imported heavy equipment to build roads, tunnels, hospitals and storage facilities in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation and in connection with the establishment of paramilitary training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.


Mark Burgess, an analyst with the Center for Defense Information, a nonpartisan group that tracks defense issues, said bin Laden spent five years in Sudan using his own money to fund a number of infrastructure projects for the government.


"He and his organization have been involved in various welfare-type projects and charitable work," Burgess said.


Michael Swetnam, a terrorism expert who co-wrote a book on bin Laden and al-Qaida, told The Associated Press that the terrorist leader has been on a mission to build schools, roads and even homes for widows of those killed in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan.


But Swetnam said the schools he financed taught mostly fundamentalist Islam that preaches hatred for the West.




Les Blumenthal: 1-202-383-0008
lblumenthal@mcclatchydc.com

[Asada Haq]

poor patty!!! i almost didn't vote for her because i thought she was to pro isreal....and now i like her

anyway patty was vice pres of real media and lost her forutne right afte elections if you didn't know

and needed help paying off her election expenses

anyway i hope it all works out for her :)

[Franny]

I think it's only natural that people will like OBL because of te social projects he undertakes on their behalf. Right now a lot of muslims are still under educated, and have little healthcare etc. So their 2hearts and mind" are susceptible to being won. It's basic human psychology.

And the US (and the UK) deliver massive amounts of foreign aid every year. The funny thing is that we have little or nothing to show for it: most muslims still seem to hate us, or that's the popular conception anyway.

Here's what Fran thinks we should do:

1. Secure the oil fields of the middle east using military force. Pay a market rate for the oil, but don't give the money to, say, the Saudi royal family (or whoever gets it). Instead, use it to build hospitals, provide free education, and generally improve the living conditions of the local inhabitants. Then

2. Topple the Saudi Royal family, and any other non-democratic 'government' in that region (no, I don't mean Israel;) ) and start instituting some form of democracy. Religious leaders, of whatever faith, wouldn't be allowed to stand for office, since there should be a basic seperation of church and state. And finally

3. When we've got the middle eastern house in order, let's get the Israelis and Palestinians sorted out.

Of course, it'll never happen, but I'm just thinking aloud:)

[whynot1.]

Here's even more:

http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/12/26/235114

Thursday, Dec. 26, 2002 11:39 p.m. EST
Lott's Comments Get 20 Times the Coverage of Murray's

The mainstream media gave former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's comments praising his Senate colleague Strom Thurmond nearly 20 times the coverage it devoted to Sen. Patty Murray's remarks praising Osama bin Laden during the same period of time.

From Dec. 5, when Lott praised D-Day veteran Thurmond's 1948 presidential candidacy on a segregationist ticket at his 100th birthday celebration, through Dec. 12, more than a week before Lott resigned his leadership post, the Lott-Thurmond imbroglio was the subject of 641 print reports and news broadcasts, a Lexis-Nexis search reveals.

Coverage was particularly heavy in prestige press outlets like the New York Times, the Washington Post and all three broadcast television networks.

But Sen. Murray, who suggested in comments first reported last Thursday that the man who killed more than 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11, 2001, had performed many good works that the U.S. should emulate, has gotten a mainstream media pass. From Dec. 19 through Dec. 26, Murray's incendiary remarks, which struck some as traitorous, were covered in just 35 news stories, with almost all prestige press outlets declining to pick the story up.

The New York Times, for instance, has yet to breathe a word about Sen. Murray's praise for the 9/11 mastermind, but devoted nine stories to the Lott-Thurmond flap in its first week. The Los Angeles Times has also been silent on Murray. The Washington Post has had two reports on Murray, compared to 12 on Lott.

"We've got to ask, why is this man [Osama bin Laden] so popular around the world," said the Washington State Democrat, 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."

Murray continued:

"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?"

[Julienna]

whynot,
Sen. Murray was NOT praising Osama in any way, she was merely engaging an honors class in dialogue regarding why America is poorly regarded by some Muslim nations.
More Americans need to ask themselves why the US is seen by Muslim countries in a less than favorable light.
--Julienna

[GLK17]

Originally posted by Julienna
whynot,
Sen. Murray was NOT praising Osama in any way, she was merely engaging an honors class in dialogue regarding why America is poorly regarded by some Muslim nations.
More Americans need to ask themselves why the US is seen by Muslim countries in a less than favorable light.
--Julienna


I don't need to ask anything of the sort. I don't care why we
aren't seen in a more "favorable light" as you put it.
I certainly don't have to ask why 19 maniacs flew
four planes into civilian targets. I don't care. I don't care if they
didn't like our foreign policy. I don't care if they don't like our
values. I don't care about their feelings. There is no justification.
Period. Liberals like you are caught in this vacuum where no act
is evil, no person/group is inherently bad, and everything is
relative. That is the problem with Senator Murray's statements.

[FingersOnline]

Originally posted by GLK17
I don't need to ask anything of the sort. I don't care why we
aren't seen in a more "favorable light" as you put it.
I certainly don't have to ask why 19 maniacs flew
four planes into civilian targets. I don't care. I don't care if they
didn't like our foreign policy. I don't care if they don't like our
values. I don't care about their feelings. There is no justification.
Period. Liberals like you are caught in this vacuum where no act
is evil, no person/group is inherently bad, and everything is
relative. That is the problem with Senator Murray's statements.

When u dont care about anything then why do u want care about 9/11. Dont care there will be more to come

[GLK17]

Originally posted by FingersOnline
When u dont care about anything then why do u want care about 9/11. Dont care there will be more to come


So you are condoning the murder of 3000 civilians on 9/11?

Please elaborate: What more to come?

[whynot1.]

Since I've only posted things from more conservative sites I've actually looked on more liberal sites to see if I could find more about Patty Murray's comments. I haven't really found anything. The Newsmax piece pointed out the mainstram media are not giving this issue much attention and the liberal sites (like thenation.com and commondreams.org) seem to be following their lead.

[Sitar Romance]

idiot




Originally posted by whynot



Vance was particularly critical of her for saying bin Laden had helped build day-care centers, pointing out that fundamentalist Islamic women don't work, so there's no need for day-care centers.

[Sitar Romance]

GLK, your attitude is the *EXACT* reason why USA is seen in such an unfavourable light by the rest of the world!!!!!!!!!

Americans are regarded as people who dont give a damn about non-American people, and are regarded to be stuck in their own little world!

Who says USA is right and everyone else is wrong? who gave USA that "right" to declare themselves as the world police patrols??? just because they got a lot of smackers and higher advanced technology? just because they claim to be more fairer toward women and little faggots? (oops! I mean gays!)

not everyone in the world shares USA's views. not everyoen agrees with USA.

as Bush says "either you are with us or you are with the terrorists."

ouuuuuch.

-SP




Originally posted by GLK17
I don't need to ask anything of the sort. I don't care why we
aren't seen in a more "favorable light" as you put it.
I certainly don't have to ask why 19 maniacs flew
four planes into civilian targets. I don't care. I don't care if they
didn't like our foreign policy. I don't care if they don't like our
values. I don't care about their feelings. There is no justification.
Period. Liberals like you are caught in this vacuum where no act
is evil, no person/group is inherently bad, and everything is
relative. That is the problem with Senator Murray's statements.

[GLK17]

Originally posted by Sitar Romance
GLK, your attitude is the *EXACT* reason why USA is seen in such an unfavourable light by the rest of the world!!!!!!!!!

Americans are regarded as people who dont give a damn about non-American people, and are regarded to be stuck in their own little world!

Who says USA is right and everyone else is wrong? who gave USA that "right" to declare themselves as the world police patrols??? just because they got a lot of smackers and higher advanced technology? just because they claim to be more fairer toward women and little faggots? (oops! I mean gays!)

not everyone in the world shares USA's views. not everyoen agrees with USA.

as Bush says "either you are with us or you are with the terrorists."

ouuuuuch.

-SP


Answer this: Why should I care about the beliefs of the suicidal
maniacs that flew four U.S. airliners into civilian targets? Why
should I care about thier beliefs? Why should I give a damn
about their feelings? What could possibly justify their actions?

My frustration comes from those who suggest that we need to
"understand" where they are coming from, and why they "feel"
the way they do, in order to prevent such things from happening
in the future. Guess what?....NO feeling, or ideal, or religion can
EVER provide a justification for heinous acts such as those.

[Sitar Romance]

good point. I didnt get that in your earlier posting.

the hijackers didnt represent the true image of Islam but i believed that Sept. 11 was a wake-up call for Americans to look around at problems in the world today.

-SP



Originally posted by GLK17
Answer this: Why should I care about the beliefs of the suicidal
maniacs that flew four U.S. airliners into civilian targets? Why
should I care about thier beliefs? Why should I give a damn
about their feelings? What could possibly justify their actions?

My frustration comes from those who suggest that we need to
"understand" where they are coming from, and why they "feel"
the way they do, in order to prevent such things from happening
in the future. Guess what?....NO feeling, or ideal, or religion can
EVER provide a justification for heinous acts such as those.

[whynot1.]

Now the remnants of the Taliban know about Patty Murray. How long before Osama finds out?

http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/12/31/123211

Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2002 Taliban Web Site Honors Sen. 'Osama Mama' Murray

Taliban Online is honoring none other than Sen. Patty "Osama Mama" Murray, D-Wash., with an article headlined "Democrat senator praises bin Laden."

The article, posted by someone who calls himself "Pak Taliban," merely rehashes Murray's comments to students in Vancouver, Wash., praising bin Laden as some sort of philanthropist. There's even a photo of this terrorist leader (bin Laden, that is) aiming a rifle.

Pak Taliban, however, omitted the uproar that Murray's comments caused and her subsequent surly admission that bin Laden is, well, "an evil terrorist."

In fact, just like America's left-wing thought police, Pak Taliban censored anything negative about his hero and added: "(The rest of the story trie's [sic] to put down Osama with the same old rubbish and a thought, is this why the Kuffar in Afghanistan are trying to set bases of the so called reconstruction phase, thinking if they look like helping the Afghan's [sic] that they might start to like them or something? No doubt the Russians did the same thing. What would please us is when you pack and go. (in sha Allah)"

No doubt the New York Times and the rest of the Democrat media would deem it newsworthy if the Taliban promoted the words of a Republican senator, but you can expect them to continue their wall of silence about Murray.

Big thanks to the NewsMax fan who sent us this item. This reader noted: "Well, it was only a matter of time before THEY used her words to glorify 'Osama.' I wonder if 'Patty' knows she's become a prominent propaganda tool of Al Qaeda/Taliban. What else did she think would happen.

"Here is her words posted on the English language version of the 'Taliban On Line' web site - the MOST read story on their site.

"How many Arabic/Urdu web sites - newpapers - TV - etc. feature her words as support to those that support terror ... those that would kill those kids she addressed in Vancouver - and the rest of us - if they can," the reader concluded.

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Footnote: For those hard-core Democrat cynics who still don't know how to use a search engine, the link to Taliban Online's item is http://www.muslimthai.com/talibanonline/article.php?sid=1360

[whynot1.]

Finally found a defense of Patty Murray, from the Seattle Times:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/134601690_murrayed24.html

Editorial
Those silly attacks on Sen. Patty Murray

Election time is the silly season, and state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance and Congressman George Nethercutt already have started the shenanigans for the 2004 U.S. senate campaign.

Their gasbaggery last week over U.S. Sen. Patty Murray's conversation with a Vancouver, Wash., high-school class was all spin and distortion.

Wednesday, Columbia River High School honor students studying world history were treated to a discussion with their U.S. senator about world events and U.S. policy. Murray, a former teacher, noted many people in the Muslim nations view the United States with suspicion and posed a question:

"We've got to ask, why is this man (Osama bin Laden) so popular around the world? Why are people so supportive of him in many countries that are riddled in poverty?"

She noted the wealthy bin Laden, believed to be an architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has established goodwill because over the years he built buildings, roads and other facilities for poor areas.

She probed further: "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?"

While Murray voted against Bush's war resolution, she supports the war on terrorism and wants bin Laden brought to justice.

Nevertheless, Vance's press release has Murray sending a message that the "United States somehow deserved or brought on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

Oh please, what nonsense!

A couple paragraphs later, Vance gets to his objective: "If Patty Murray really believes what she said, she should think twice about running for re-election."

Slow day around the office, Mr. Vance?

And Nethercutt, R-Spokane, released a statement full of innuendo, saying, "Congress is a place of debate. I guess we now know which side Sen. Murray will be debating from when Congress resumes."

Then Nethercutt, who voted in 1997 to withdraw from the United Nations, delivers his upshot: "I would welcome the chance to have a one-on-one debate with Sen. Murray on this topic."

Testing the political waters, congressman?

Fact is, Murray's information about bin Laden is right. The Associated Press quoted a bin Laden expert saying the senator's comments were "a generalization, but mostly accurate." Sen. Murray challenged bright students, who might be soldiers in the war on terrorism, to make sense of our nation's circumstances. How subversive!


Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company

[whynot1.]

Here's more:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,75114,00.html

Sen. Murray Defends Bin Laden Comments

Thursday, January 09, 2003

WASHINGTON — Sen. Patty Murray on Wednesday defended comments she made last month that seemed to praise terror leader Usama bin Laden for his humanitarian efforts.

The Democratic senator from Washington said she’s no big fan of the terrorist leader and that the media has misconstrued remarks she made to a group of advanced placement students in her home state on Dec. 18.

"I have to tell you that it's really important that people don't twist or construe remarks that were made to an AP student group in a Vancouver high school," she told Fox News in a Senate corridor after attending a "power coffee" with the 13 other women senators on Capitol Hill.

"We all know -- everyone in this country knows -- that Usama bin Laden is an evil terrorist and in my remarks I told the students we're taking the right steps now. The question is what do we do next ... and it's an important question," Murray said.

In the meeting with students, Murray asked why bin Laden is so popular in some places around the world. Her answer was caught on tape by the school’s video department.

"He's been out in these countries for decades building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities and people are extremely grateful," she said. "He's made their lives better. We have not done that."

Outcry against Murray's comments was immediate, even among some who think the United States should give more foreign aid to Afghanistan.

"She should know better than that -- [bin Laden] is public enemy No. 1 and is behind despicable things. To use him for effect is outrageous," said Josh Feit, editor of The Stranger, Seattle's alternative weekly paper.

Several experts said it’s true bin Laden has spent some of his money in the Sudan and Afghanistan on infrastructure projects such as building hospitals, schools and roads.

But they say most of those roads were built to take soldiers to and from training camps, the schools built were madrasas, which often indoctrinate students to the bin Laden brand of Islam, and the hospitals were not intended for average Muslims but for injured Mujahadeen fighters battling the Soviets.

Diplomats, biographers and aid workers all say bin Laden’s popularity does not stem from his benevolence, but from his message of hate towards Israel and the United States.

"I think he developed a following because he became the embodiment of someone who would represent the powerless and confront the powerful," said Fox News contributor Dennis Ross, a former ambassador and director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In fact, the United States is the largest international donor of aid to several countries where bin Laden is popular, and was so even before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Recently, the United States gave $320 million in aid to Afghanistan, mostly in the form of food and refugee assistance, thus providing 80 percent of the international relief given to that country.

Some have also criticized the disproportionate response to Murray’s comments compared to the drubbing given to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who resigned from his leadership post after a huge public outcry over remarks he made regarding segregationist policies of the past.

But there are others in Murray’s corner, including several in Seattle’s anti-war coalition who believe she is right.

"I would believe that as a fundamentalist, he believes very much in the values of his religion and that he would have been providing charity," said Alice Woldt of the Church Council of Seattle.

Murray’s defenders have said her remarks were made off the cuff, but the tape showed the senator using those words as her closing statements, which may have left a lasting impression.

The GOP is now seizing the moment. Republicans, and even President Bush, are said to be trying to draft Rep. Jennifer Dunn to run against Murray in the 2004 election.