Although condemning the assaults on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a leading imam said Washington was rushing to judgment in naming Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden as the mastermind and threatening to attack Afghanistan if it did not hand over bin Laden and his followers.
"It is injustice. It is a war of aggression," said Sheikh Mohammad Gemeaha, the imam at the Islamic Cultural Center, one of the largest mosques in New York.
He said the "perpetrators of last week's horrendous event must be punished" but also opposed any military response that would lead to the deaths of more innocent victims.
"Americans haven't woken up yet to who the real criminals are," he told reporters without elaborating after reading a sermon at Friday prayers. Gemeaha added that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement had the right to defend itself if attacked.
"There is a difference between launching a war and defending themselves. Every responsible nation has the right to defend itself and its people," he said.
In a speech before a joint session of Congress on Thursday, President George W. Bush warned the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden and his followers or "share in their fate" as U.S. forces prepare to strike back.
GOVERNMENTS PUT ON NOTICE
Bush also made clear he expected cooperation from governments across the world in his campaign against the al Qaeda organization of religious militants.
"Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists," he said.
Bush's decision to threaten the Taliban and extend his anti-terrorism campaign beyond al Qaeda has raised concern he could antagonize Arab and other Muslim nations.
The Taliban called Friday for Washington to provide proof that bin Laden directed last week's attacks, a request flatly rejected by the White House.
Bush has stressed that no one should attack or show disrespect to America's own Muslims and Arabs, but Gemeaha said Friday such attacks had already begun.
"Unfortunately, although many Arabs and Muslims also died in the towering inferno that used to be the World Trade Center, their families and friends and all Arabs and Muslims in every part of our country are now the targets of increasing acts of violence, and of personal attacks," he said.
Some Muslims in New York said after Bush's speech they were worried about a further polarization between Muslims and non-Muslims both at home and abroad.
"What is dangerous is that Muslims are one family. If you hurt one, you hurt them all. If you hurt one, others will come to their defense," said Hassan Abdul-Rahim, a retired New York policeman and now a security officer at the Islamic Cultural Center.
"If they attack (Afghanistan) and innocent civilians are killed, like they did in Iraq, you are going to see a lot of problems," he said.
(With additional reporting by Manuela Badawy) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What a goof. Yeah the real criminals are the liars who do their best to subvert the American people and their legitimate attempts to crush the Jihad and protect themselves.
"If they attack (Afghanistan) and innocent civilians are killed, like they did in Iraq, you are going to see a lot of problems," he said.
Guess what, the Moslems do not consider themselves Americans. If they did, no one would say, "Muslims are one family. If you hurt one, you hurt them all," because it was over 6000 Americans who were killed, and many times more that number who were hurt, and we Americans consider ourselves a family, and if you hurt one of us, you hurt us all, and it was Moslem "extremists" that did it. If these Moslems were truly American, they would already have been hurt, but obviously they do not consider themselves part of the American family.
(Moslem extremists are those who have committed terrorism and have been caught at it, a Moslem moderate is one who has not yet committed terrorism or been caught at it.)
And before we get too worried about harming "innocent civilians" in Afghanistan, this guy better learn something about it's history and figure out where we might find any citizens in that country who are innocent.
Hank