US policy 'invited 9/11' says presidential hopeful

One of the 10 Republican US presidential hopefuls was criticised today after he suggested that US foreign policy invited the September 11 terror attacks.

Texas congressman Ron Paul told a conservative audience that the US bombing of Iraq over 10 years contributed to Islamic anger that led to the suicide bombings of the twin towers and the Pentagon.

The comment, which came during the second Republican debate last night, sparked an angry rebuke from former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

“That’s an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq,” he said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before, and I’ve heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11.”

The audience at the debate at the University of South Carolina, along with presidential rival Senator John McCain, applauded Mr Giuliani’s response as he demanded that Mr Paul should retract the comment.

“I would ask the congressman to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn’t really mean that,” Mr Giuliani said.

Mr Paul refused to withdraw the comment and later told reporters that bombing runs over Iraq to keep Saddam Hussein at bay, sanctions on Iraq, and putting US troops in Saudi Arabia to defend Kuwait “caused hatred” of the US by Muslims.

The debate involved more personal assaults by the candidates on their rivals than in the first debate two weeks ago.

On other issues, Mr Giuliani was attacked over whether his stance on abortion, gun control and gay rights made him conservative enough for the party’s nomination.

He raised the possibility of Senator Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee and said he was the best candidate to beat her, but added that, on abortion: “I ultimately do believe in a woman’s right to choose.”