Tony Bennett Tells Howard Stern the U.S. 'Caused' 9/11

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Erik Hayden | The Atlantic Wire


Tony Bennett probably wasn't aiming to grab this type of attention when he went on Sirius radio to promote his pleasant-sounding duets album. But, as ABC News studiously transcribed, the avowed pacifist waded into a conversation with Howard Stern that may not endear himself to listeners. He seems to have expressed a "we hurt them before they hurt us, and both of us were wrong" opinion of 9/11 on the show, and also claims that he shared a moment with George Bush where the ex-decider admitted that invading Iraq wasn't a good idea:

In a soft-spoken voice, the singer disagreed with Stern's premise that 9/11 terrorists' actions led to U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. "They flew the plane in, but we caused it," Bennett responded. "Because we were bombing them and they told us to stop."

... Before leaving, Bennett recalled an evening in 2005 when he was honored at the Kennedy Center. Meeting President George W. Bush at the event, the singer said that the commander-in-chief shared his opinion about the Iraq War."He told me personally that night that, he said, 'I think I made a mistake,'" Bennett said.

Bush probably wouldn't phrase what he said that evening the same way.

[Muddy]

What he says shocks people, but all BS aside his words hold a certain measure of accuracy.. 9/11 was a retaliation for bombings we did in Lebanon or someplace like that.. Im not saying 9/11 was justified by any means.. I am just saying that Bin Laden had a specific reason (I have read transcripts of some of his videos on Al Jazeera).. And that reason was not 'We hate freedom' like is portrayed..

And Iraq was a huge mistake.

[Arkady Renko]

yeah, it's crudely phrased but he has a point. US foreign policy provided the people around Bin Laden with a lot of excellent material for hatemongering. In their efforts to secure and increase US influence in oil rich arab countries and to protect israel, the US pissed a lot of people off, so the attacks on US soild didn't come out of the blue. Not that it would make the attacks any less criminal and heinous, but the context is vital for understanding why these guys were so eager to kill themselves and take thousands with them...in their own world, they're the noble rebels fighting against a far superior enemy who wants to tell them how to run their countries. Bit of a paranoid delusion but just the thing to get the good old angry muslim mob all riled up.

[redred]

(I have read transcripts of some of his videos on Al Jazeera)..

you read the first line didn't you


i do agree with what you said though

[Muddy]

you read the first line didn't you

If my interest is really peaked I will read... This gripped me pretty good for a while.. I wanted to know what was inside this mans head...

[redred]

i know what you mean

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I would concede the point that our foreign policy in the Middle East is partly to blame for radical Islam hating the United States, but as far as Tony Bennett's reasoning of:

"Because we were bombing them and they told us to stop."

Um, who exactly were we bombing before 9/11?

[Muddy]

He's just an 80 year old man, Lance.. He probably cant even tie his own shoes...

[Hal-9000]

We turned Baghdad into a parking lot twice....during the Gulf war.When did that start? '92? I would have to assume that a guy like Bin Laden would spin any action, against any brown skinned factions, as threats against his cause.Even if we were bombing southeast Asia...

Like we all know, they have very limited media and the folks in power would provide any and all broadcasts listing us capitalistic white devils from the west as the bad guys.I do think there's a fair amount of truth in Bennet's statement.The US has rolled into places like Serbia and Bosnia, taken military action, and left the public at large with nothing but the possessions on their back.

and please don't think that I'm critiquing the US military...I know that if they end up in some place halfway around the world, there's a reason for it.

[Godfather]

What he says shocks people, but all BS aside his words hold a certain measure of accuracy.. 9/11 was a retaliation for bombings we did in Lebanon or someplace like that.. Im not saying 9/11 was justified by any means.. I am just saying that Bin Laden had a specific reason (I have read transcripts of some of his videos on Al Jazeera).. And that reason was not 'We hate freedom' like is portrayed..

And Iraq was a huge mistake.

Agreed. And like Lance said, US foreign policy has made some grievous mistakes in the Middle East. Doesn't justify it, it was a cowardly act and the extremists are savages... but there are explanations.

Interesting though. This thread is pretty tame. How would this type of statement have gone over 8-10 years ago?

[Muddy]

The days not out, my friend..

[Hal-9000]

We don't know for sure, but Tony Bennet doesn't seem like the type of guy to make up stories to generate interest...

If Bush admitted that they may have made some mistakes in the past pertaining to their military actions...so be it.It's not exactly a huge secret that after 9/11
the US went after other world factions, in the guise of payback.

[Muddy]

Why cant Tony just go on Howard Stern and gargle with semen like all the other guests?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Agreed. And like Lance said, US foreign policy has made some grievous mistakes in the Middle East. Doesn't justify it, it was a cowardly act and the extremists are savages... but there are explanations.

Interesting though. This thread is pretty tame. How would this type of statement have gone over 8-10 years ago?

Anyone that tries to deny that US foreign policy in the Middle East had a negative impact on some of the people there is delusional. But like you said, that doesn't excuse or justify the 9/11 attacks, or any other terroristic acts committed anywhere in the world. And therein lies the difference in cultures, when the United States (or any other civilized nation for that matter) declares war on you, you know it's coming and that only military targets are going to be affected to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. When these fuckwads declare a 'jihad' on you, you have no idea where or when it;s going to happen and more often than not, they target only civilians.

I just wish one time we would bring the full force of the US military down on these people, then they can see what real war and destruction is like. Then maybe they would think twice about committing another cowardly act.

[Hal-9000]

Why cant Tony just go on Howard Stern and gargle with semen like all the other guests?

+1 of the day