Feisal Abdul Rauf says Ground Zero mosque site is not "hallowed ground."

Feisal Abdul Rauf is now telling America what qualifies as hallowed ground. Every time Rauf speaks, he makes more and more people angry.

NEW YORK – It is two blocks from ground zero, but the site of a proposed mosque and Islamic center shouldn't be seen as "hallowed ground" in a neighborhood that also contains a strip club and a betting parlor, the cleric leading the effort said Monday.

While opponents of the project see it as insulting the memories of the thousands killed by Muslim extremists in the 2001 terrorist attacks, Rauf said he doesn't see the spot as sacred memorial space.

"It's absolutely disingenuous, as many have said, that that block is hallowed ground," Rauf said, noting the nearby exotic dance and betting businesses. "So let's clarify that misperception."

He said the Islamic center's organizers were surprised and saddened by the uproar and might not have pursued it had they known what was coming. But he declined to detail any strategy for quieting the clamor — or say whether that might include moving the project.

Public receptiveness toward Rauf's idea of creating a hub of moderate Islam "is being undermined by his inability to take a quick decision," said Muqtedar Khan, a University of Delaware political scientist and author of "American Muslims, Bridging Faith and Freedom." "It's time for him to be very specific: Is it staying, or is it moving?"

While not answering that, Rauf suggested the locale's high profile served an important purpose for the proposed $100 million Islamic center, which will feature prayer space as well as a swimming pool, culinary school, art studios and other features.

"We need to create a platform where the voice of moderate Muslims would be amplified," Rauf said.

Rauf is completely incoherent. He claims that the proposed site is NOT a sacred memorial space, defending the location of the mosque. Then he says that the Islamic center's organizers were surprised and saddened by the uproar and might not have pursued it had they known what was coming. He goes on to say that the locale's high profile served an important purpose for the proposed $100 million dollar Islamic center.

If the mosque's organizers picked that location for its strategic significance, why would they be surprised when people took notice? Rauf says, "We need to create a platform where the voice of moderate Muslims would be amplified." Pushing the mosque issue is the best example of how Rauf feels about America as a whole.

It seems to me that Rauf is spinning a web a little too big for him to keep in check. He has contradicted himself far too many times to be honest.

At his point the mosque is being used to force an Islamic center on New York, and America. An Islamic center that a majority of New Yorkers and Americans don't want. An Islamic center, being built in spite of its proposed purpose.

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