toledoblade.com --

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur - speaking to a packed room at an East Toledo VFW post last night - apologized to anyone hurt by comments she made comparing Osama bin Laden to American Revolutionary War figures.

Miss Kaptur (D., Toledo), who went to Post 4906 on Consaul Street to attend its Friday fish fry dinner, briefly addressed the crowd of 45 people before sitting down to eat.

"You have heard much about my earlier statements on terrorism, and I just wanted you all to know that due to the political nature of what happened with my original statements, if my remarks have hurt anyone, I'm sorry," Miss Kaptur said. "Let me also say to each of you tonight [that] I am one member of Congress who will never make politics of war. It is too deadly serious."

She was referring to controversial comments printed in a Blade article on March 1 in which she compared al-Qaeda members to American revolutionaries. "One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non-nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown," Miss Kaptur said in the article.

Several days after the article was published, she clarified her comment, saying it was meant to analogize the forces that motivate people to join a rebellion.

Miss Kaptur was attacked by conservative radio talk-show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge and by Republicans and Democrats on television shows, such as CNN's Crossfire.

"Because of the raw emotion, I thought it was important to at least make a statement," Miss Kaptur said during her meal. "What I said was twisted [by other people]. People read the twist, not what I said."

The VFW members greeted Miss Kaptur with applause and weren't critical of her.

"Everybody is human," said Dan Kosztak, post quartermaster. "She is entitled to her opinions, and we don't think she meant harm."

John Gocsik, post commander, echoed those sentiments toward Miss Kaptur, who is an honorary lifetime member of the post.

Miss Kaptur used the opportunity to criticize the Bush administration for the way it is handling the conflict with Iraq. She has been insistent that war with Iraq will worsen relations with 1 billion Islamic followers in the world.

"In this administration's zeal to win a war with weapons, the war of ideas is being lost," she said. "In a time of growing tensions, world opinion, so vital to U.S. victory, is turning against us, and within the Muslim world, the U.S. is becoming more hated to the point it is now viewed as the primary enemy."

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