Excerpt:
'Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war." Those simple, eloquent words made it clear what the United States hoped to avoid in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks: a religious war that would fulfill Osama bin Laden's dreams. And those sentences came not from some liberal peacenik, but from then-President George W. Bush, in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
Nine years later, Park51, the proposed Islamic cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero, should be a potent symbol of Bush's sage words. Intended as a 13-story complex with a prayer room, auditorium, restaurant, and gym, it could serve as an example of religious tolerance in the post-9/11 world, a message that Al Qaeda's attempts to pit the West against Muslims have failed.
Unfortunately, some politicians and activist groups have instead reacted to the proposal in a manner that plays directly into the extremists' hands.