U.S. Anti-Islam Protest in U.S. Seen as Lift for Extremists

Evan F. Kohlmann, who tracks militant Web sites at the security consulting firm Flashpoint Global Partners, said supporters of Al Qaeda have seized on the controversy “with glee.” On radical Web forums, he said, the dispute over the Islamic center, which would include space for worship, is lumped together with fringe developments like a Florida pastor’s call for making Sept. 11 “Burn a Koran Day.”

“It’s seen as proof of what Awlaki and others have been saying, that the U.S. is hypocritical and that most Americans are enemies of Islam,” Mr. Kohlmann said. He called the anti-Islam statements spawned by the dispute “disturbing and sad” and said they were feeding anti-American sentiment that could provoke violence.

Dalia Mogahed of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies said the outcry over the proposed center “plays into Awlaki’s arguments and Osama bin Laden’s arguments” by suggesting that Islam has no place in the United States.

She said that extreme anti-Muslim views in the United States ironically mirror a central tenet of extreme Islamists: “That the world is divided into two camps, and they’re irreconcilable, and Muslims have to choose which side they’re on.”

Further proof that Obama's "support" of the Muslim's right to build a mosque wherever they are legally permitted to do so is the correct stance that the leader of this country should take, no matter how many people try to villainize him for it.

There should be more neutral voices condemning such anti-religious actions

Pure garbage. They're trying to create a climate where if you despise and speak out against the islamic extremists who hate America, you're not PC and are an enemy of islam.

How about having a few more muslim voices condemning radical islamic anti-American actions?

How about having a few more muslim voices condemning radical islamic anti-American actions?

Ohhh nos, I sure hope the protesters, exercising their first amendment right, do not create another osama bin laden. You do know that all muslim extremist activity is really the fault of the Americans anyway....my favorite Imam told me so.

My favorite mosque-hater told me that just because someone has the right to do something doesn't automatically make it a good idea to do it.

If you are convinced in your mindset, nothing will change your mind.

My favorite mosque-hater told me that just because someone has the right to do something doesn't automatically make it a good idea to do it.

My favorite mosque-hater told me that just because someone has the right to do something doesn't automatically make it a good idea to do it.

just because someone has the right to do something doesn't automatically make it a good idea to do it.

So long as one conveniently equates "despis[ing] and speak[ing] out against the Islamic extremists who hate America" with opposing the building of a mosque in Lower Manhattan.

Does it really matter how many voices fall on deaf ears?