Right: the 9/11 memorial searchlights soar up from the former WTC foundations. No construction has yet begun on a replacement building, which some believe may go a long way towards healing the divisions caused by the Twin Towers' destruction.
Further implications
This issue has revealed the extent to which the trauma of September 11 still lives nine years after the terrorist attack. The issue of whether a Muslim community centre should be built near the site of the World Trade Centre has shown the continuing grief and anger of many Americans. It has also shown the extent to which, for some, anger is indiscriminant. It is not simply directed at terrorists who kill in the name of Islam; for some, it is directed against Islam. This is unfortunate as it undermines America's longstanding commitment to freedom of religion.
It is also unfortunate as it feeds hostility between the Western world and Islam. With two wars currently being conducted against Islamic extremists, one in Afghanistan and the other in Iraq, it is important that the United States targets its enemies correctly. America will ultimately withdraw from each of these war zones and any enduring peace in either area will depend on the success of the moderate Muslims whom the United States will attempt to leave in control. When President Obama recently stressed that the United States was at war against terrorists not against Islam he was clearly referring to both America's domestic situation and its international one.
It is regrettable that the reconstruction effort at Ground Zero has been so slow. Had there been some symbolic mark of healing as evidenced by the completion of a memorial to those who died on September 11 then the building of a Muslim community centre near the site may have touched a less raw nerve.
As things currently stand the situation is rife for exploitation both within the United States and outside it by extremists both Christian and Islamic.