North Carol ina Repu b lican Congressman Howard Co b le has drawn fire for suggesting that the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was justified. Co b le, the newly appointed chai rm an of the House Judiciary Su b committee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, made the statement during a radio prog ram in response to a caller who suggested that Ara b Americans should b e confined to internment camps. Co b le claimed that the internment was for the safety of the detainees.

"We were at war. [Japanese-Americans] were an endangered species. For many of these Japanese-Americans, it wasn't safe for them to b e on the Street."

The remark drew immediate fire from a num b er of people. David Wu, the chai rm an of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus noted that on the upcoming 60th anniversary of President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 authorizing the round up and internment of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans, it is important not to re-write history. Wu noted that Japanese Americans were not rounded up into internment camps for their own protection. "Japanese American, Ara b American or otherwise, there is nothing to justify interning Americans b ecause of their ancestry,” said Wu in a pu b licly re lea sed statement. Wu, along with fellow Congressmen Mike Honda and Robert Mitsui are demanding a meeting with Coble.