Thoughts on the Ground Zero Mosque

I might be prepared to support the idea of constructing a mosque a stone's throw away from the World Trade Center if Muslim leaders in this country made a concerted effort to condemn acts of terror committed in the name of Islamic fundamentalism, condemn the organizations responsible by name as well as support the efforts of the United States to combat terrorism committed in the name of Islamic fundamentalism both here and abroad.

But I have seen none of that from Muslim leaders in this country. When Feisal Abdul Rauf publicly states the United States foreign policy was an accessory to the attacks of September 11, 2001, accuses this country of wantonly killing civilians during WWII and refuses to identify Hamas as a terrorist organization it raises red flags. And who is funding this whole enterprise? What does Rauf have to hide?

It is in this context that I view the plan to build a mosque in plain view of Ground Zero as an act of desecration. Quite frankly the construction of a mosque at Ground Zero is the moral equivalent of spray painting swastikas on Jewish graves or on the graves of those who fought the Nazis. I am appalled both at Rauf and his Cordoba Initiative for their act of desecration and to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City of New York for allowing this travesty to happen.

How is Rauf stating the United States was an accessory to the attacks of September 11, 2001 any different than when Saudi Prince Alwaweed suggested the same after giving New York City a check worth $10 million? We all know what Rudy Giuliani did. He told the Prince to take the check, fold it five times and stick where the moon don't shine. Given his approach to Rauf I can only conclude that Bloomberg would have accepted the blood money.