CNN presenter criticized for comments on terrorism

Jewish officials have criticized a TV commentator for suggesting that US policy towards Israel were behind the terrorist group al-Qaeda’s hatred of America. The criticism comes after Tucker Carlson, the host of CNN’s 'Crossfire', said on his show last Friday that Osama bin-Laden had made it clear in his latest tape that the United States was attacked because al-Qaeda leaders 'disagree with American policy in the Middle East particularly, and specifically American policy toward Israel'. Tucker added: “At some point, you have to consider the root causes of terrorism.” James Tisch, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told the New York Sun, “Israel is a sideshow to all of this, to bin-Laden.”