[R-G] Bush like Hitler, says first Muslim in Congress

[Richard Menec]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/14/wbush114.xml

Bush like Hitler, says first Muslim in Congress

By Toby Harnden in Washington
Last Updated: 1:14am BST 15/07/2007

America's first Muslim congressman has provoked outrage by apparently 
comparing President George W Bush to Adolf Hitler and hinting that he might 
have been responsible for the September 11 attacks.

Addressing a gathering of atheists in his home state of Minnesota, Keith 
Ellison, a Democrat, compared the 9/11 atrocities to the destruction of the 
Reichstag, the German parliament, in 1933. This was probably burned down by 
the Nazis in order to justify Hitler's later seizure of emergency powers.

"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that," Mr 
Ellison said. "After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists 
for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where 
he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted."

To applause from his audience of 300 members of Atheists for Human Rights, 
Mr Ellison said he would not accuse the Bush administration of planning 9/11 
because "you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box - dismiss 
you".

Vice-President Dick Cheney's stance of refusing to answer some questions 
from Congress was "the very definition of totalitarianism, authoritarianism 
and dictatorship", he added.

Mr Ellison also raised eyebrows by telling his audience: "You'll always find 
this Muslim standing up for your right to be atheists all you want."

A convert to Islam who was previously linked to the extremist Nation of 
Islam, Mr Ellison, 42, has cultivated a moderate image since being elected 
last November, concentrating on issues such as health and education.

He is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq. But he angered his own 
anti-war supporters by voting for a budget bill that aims to end the war 
over the next 18 months. His followers want an immediate withdrawal of US 
troops from Iraq.

After his speech was reported, Mr Ellison said he accepted that Osama bin 
Laden was responsible for 9/11. But his demagogic comments threaten to 
plunge him in controversy.

Mark Drake, of the Republican party in Minnesota, said: "To compare the 
democratically elected leader of the United States of America to Hitler is 
an absolute moral outrage which trivialises the horrors of Nazi Germany."

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