Johnson(R-TX): Nuke Syria? Just a joke [View All]

WASHINGTON – U.S.-Syrian relations are often tense. U.S. officials are demanding that Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon, and suspicion lingers that Damascus helped Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein hide illicit weapons.

Still, some of Rep. Sam Johnson's constituents apparently were surprised when the Plano Republican said he'd like to take care of the problem – by personally dropping a couple of nuclear bombs.

"Syria is the problem," the former fighter pilot said at a pancake breakfast at Suncreek United Methodist Church in Allen. "Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on 'em, and I'll make one pass. We won't have to worry about Syria anymore."
...
Mr. Johnson said he's "absolutely" surprised that anyone took it seriously, adding that he's never advocated a nuclear attack on Syria.

"I was kind of joking. You know. We were talking between veterans," said Mr. Johnson, an Air Force fighter pilot in Korea and Vietnam, where he spent 7 ½ years as a prisoner of war. "We were swapping sea stories – things that we'd done in the military."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/030405dnnatjohnson.191a9.html

Practically Reaganesque.