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NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Beloved U.S. singer Tony Bennett has issued a statement insisting he loves his country despite saying "we caused" the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. "They flew the plane in, but we caused it," Bennett, 85, said on Howard Stern's radio show this week when the interviewer asked the World War II veteran how the United States should deal with terrorists. "Because we were bombing them and they told us to stop."
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His remarks were widely circulated in the media with many people criticizing Bennett for it.
"There is simply no excuse for terrorism and the murder of the nearly 3,000 innocent victims of the 9/11 attacks on our country," MSNBC quoted Bennett as saying in the statement. "My life experiences -- ranging from the Battle of the Bulge to marching with Martin Luther King -- made me a lifelong humanist and pacifist, and reinforced my belief that violence begets violence and that war is the lowest form of human behavior.
"I am sorry if my statements suggested anything other than an expression of my love for my country, my hope for humanity and my desire for peace throughout the world."
