In Search of Moderate Islam: Americans Are Not As Dumb As Obama Thinks

On Saturday, the ninth anniversary of 9/11, President Obama addressed the American people from the Pentagon. In a carefully prepared speech, Obama stated:

"They may seek to spark conflict between different faiths, but as Americans we are not -- and never will be -- at war with Islam. It was not a religion that attacked us that September day -- it was al Qaeda, a sorry band of men which perverts religion. And just as we condemn intolerance and extremism abroad, so will we stay true to our traditions here at home as a diverse and tolerant nation. We champion the rights of every American, including the right to worship as one chooses -- as service members and civilians from many faiths do just steps from here, at the very spot where the terrorists struck this building."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/11/remarks-president-pentagon-memorial

Only "a sorry band of men" from al Qaeda attacked the United States on that day? There is no war between the U.S. and tens of millions of radical Muslims?

Obama's remarks were contradicted by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the poster boy of would-be moderate Islam, who, on Wednesday, explained to CNN's Soledad O'Brien on "Larry King Live" his unwillingness to move the Ground Zero Mosque to another location:

"If we move from that location, the story will be that the radicals have taken over the discourse. The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack. And I am less concerned by the radicals in America than I am concerned by the radicals in the Muslim world. . . . The danger from the radicals in the Muslim world to our national security, to the national security of our troops . . . the concern for American citizens who live and work and travel overseas will increasingly be compromised if the radicals are strengthened, and if we do move, it will strengthen the argument of the radicals to recruit, their ability to recruit, and their increasing aggression and violence."

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/09/09/new.york.islamic.center.imam/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#fbid=xrT37uJIFC-&wom=false

Without a doubt, this was a threat. Rauf was warning America to allow him to go ahead with his planned mosque and community center, or U.S. troops and civilians will be in dire danger from a large body of easily inflamed people; their number far exceeds that "sorry band of men", which, according to Obama, was solely responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

Americans, who elected Obama, are not the fools and racists that Obama and the liberal news organizations now make them out to be. An overwhelming majority of Americans see through Rauf's glib justifications for his "in your face" construction project and rightfully sense that their basic system of values is under attack.

The majority of Americans understand that the murder of Daniel Pearl, the massacre in Mumbai, the hanging of homosexuals, "honor" killings, mutilation of female genitals, Muslim persecution of minorities such as Iran's Baha'is, threats to annihilate Israel, genocide against Sudan's Black animists, Qaddafi's threats to dominate Europe, and incessant warfare are not incidental or ungermane to mainstream Islam.

And Americans are not blind to news items, such as that which also appeared on Saturday, accentuating this clash of cultures:

"A Saudi diplomat in Los Angeles reportedly has asked for political asylum in the United States, claiming his life is in danger if he is returned to Saudi Arabia.

The report Saturday by NBC News quoted the diplomat, Ali Ahmad Asseri, as saying that Saudi officials have ordered him back to his country because he is gay and had become a close friend to a Jewish woman. Asseri in a letter also reportedly criticized the role of militant imams in Saudi society."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/11/AR2010091105434.html

Would the U.S. be no better than those Muslims nations that discriminate against Christians, Jews, Hindus, Baha'is, animists and even their coreligionists, e.g., Ahmadis, if the Ground Zero Mosque was moved? Such is not the case. In testimony to their tolerance, most opponents of the mosque and community center acknowledge Rauf's legal right to build at Ground Zero, but condemn his extreme insensitivity in selecting this location.

Let Rauf, the moderate who refuses to condemn Hamas, tell us the source of his funds. Let Rauf, who asserts that "United States policies were an accessory to the crime [of 9/11]", tell us why, instead of a mosque, an interfaith center for peace, understanding and healing is not being built at Ground Zero.

A majority of Americans are not stupid, as Obama and his minions believe, and are in fact exhibiting an inordinate level of common sense, which is the underlying basis for democracy. They recognize a threat when they see one, and Obama's decision to ignore this threat amounts to little less than a blind betrayal of the free world's trust.