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Congressman Frank LoBiondo apologized for suggesting that Guantanamo Bay detainees were worse than Adolf Hitler because the Nazi dictator "sort of had a political rationale about what he was doing."
The New Jersey Republican made the remark on a radio talk show this past week, describing his recent visit to the Naval Base in Cuba. Muslim terrorists, he said, were more evil than Hitler.
"Hitler, in his philosophy, was, you know, he hated Jews, he was murdering Jews, and there were some people he liked. But he never went to the level that these people are going to," LoBiondo said.
A caller objected to the statement only a few minutes later.
"You're right. You're right. I was wrong. I should not have used that and I apologize," LoBiondo responded.
He told The Press of Atlantic City that the comparison was a bad one.
"I was trying to make a point about a terrible group," he said in Saturday's editions. "If I had a string, I would have taken it back immediately."
A member of the House Armed Services Committee, LoBiondo traveled to Guantanamo Bay on Monday to inspect the facility, which holds 520 detainees captured in
Afghanistan. He voted against an independent panel to investigate allegations of prisoner abuse there.
The New Jersey Republican made the remark on a radio talk show this past week, describing his recent visit to the Naval Base in Cuba. Muslim terrorists, he said, were more evil than Hitler.
"Hitler, in his philosophy, was, you know, he hated Jews, he was murdering Jews, and there were some people he liked. But he never went to the level that these people are going to," LoBiondo said.
A caller objected to the statement only a few minutes later.
"You're right. You're right. I was wrong. I should not have used that and I apologize," LoBiondo responded.
He told The Press of Atlantic City that the comparison was a bad one.
"I was trying to make a point about a terrible group," he said in Saturday's editions. "If I had a string, I would have taken it back immediately."
A member of the House Armed Services Committee, LoBiondo traveled to Guantanamo Bay on Monday to inspect the facility, which holds 520 detainees captured in
Afghanistan. He voted against an independent panel to investigate allegations of prisoner abuse there.
His apology fits for the "he never went to level these people are going to" b/c, at this point, the militant islamacists are far from what hitler managed to accomplish (let alone, dreamed of accomplishing). I am very concerned about his reference to Hitler having a political rationale (whcih his apology doesn't really cover) -it goes to a mindset I find disturbing (and more common among conservatives, but also found among liberals willing to cut groups loose for political expedience), which is the ability to understand actions against certain groups and not others. To be honest, using LoBiondo's "political rationale" stream of thought, one could argue that the militant islamacists not only have a political rationale but a more legitimate one than the nazis did.