Coble says he won't apologize for comments U.S. Rep. Howard Coble said he won't apologize for comments this week defending the U.S. government's decision to force Japanese-Americans into internment camps during World War II.
The Greensboro Republican also said he won't resign as chairman of a new House subcommittee with responsibility for homeland security. "I was just stating historical fact," Coble said Friday. "If those comments were offensive to anyone, I apologize for that. I did not intend to be insensitive or uncaring." [News & Observer]
We're letting Howard Coble dictate the terms of the debate a little too much. While IsThatLegal and a few other weblogs are doing an excellent job of showing Mr. Coble that what he said was not, in fact, "historical fact," we're letting him divert attention from another critical piece of his argument.
Not only did he argue that the internment was supposedly for the "safety" of Japanese-Americans, according to an article in the News & Observer:
He added that the camps served the nation's security needs during World War II because a few Japanese-Americans might have been intent on harming America, "just as some Arab-Americans are probably intent on doing us harm today."
If his argument really was only that the internment was done for the safety of Japanese-Americans, why bring up the fact that it "served the nation's security needs" and that some "might have been intent on harming America"?
It sounds to me as if he is using the "safety" argument to hide his true feelings about the issue: that the incarceration of innocent Americans during World War II was justified.
It is worrying that he is the head of the subcommittee responsible for Homeland Security. If these are his views on an event that even the US government has apologized for, how likely is he to defend the rights of Arab-Americans in the wake of September 11th?
It's time for Coble to apologize. And if he won't apologize, he shouldn't just lose his subcommittee chairmanship, but he should be removed from the House of Representatives altogether. No member of our government should be allowed to make unrepentant, racist comments and remain in our government.
9:35:17 AM 
|
.