This week’s Ann Coulter Award for Humane Foreign Policy goes to Congressman Tom Tancredo, Republican from Colorado, who, when asked on a radio show what the United States should do if terrorists got their hands on nuclear weapons, answered:

“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, um, you know, you could take out their holy sites …”

Did the esteemed member of Congress mean that the United States should send out a few B-2 bombers to flatten Mecca, the city considered by one-fifth the world’s population to be the holiest place on earth?

“Yeah. What if you said — what if you said that we recognize that this is the ultimate threat to the United States — therefore this is the ultimate threat, this is the ultimate response.”

The fourth-term congressman added, helpfully, that he was just “throwing out there some ideas.” (Al Qaeda’s Middle Eastern recruitment office immediately issued a statement saying they were glad for the help, Tom, and keep those ideas coming.)

Tancredo later issued a statement to clarify his earlier remarks, emphasizing that he did not “advocate” the destruction of Muslim holy sites, but that folks might as well give it some thought. “Among the many things we might do to prevent such an attack on America would be to lay out there as a possibility the destruction of these sites,” he said. On a related note, Tancredo reportedly has his sights set on the White House in ’08 (campaigning for it, not bombing it).

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen