First, Sept. 11 anniversary will be about the victims, then it will be about the mosque
By Verena Dobnik, APSaturday, September 11, 2010
Islam controversies cast shadow over 9/11 events
NEW YORK — Politics is threatening to overshadow the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Families of more than 2,700 people killed at the World Trade Center will mourn their loved ones by reading their names at an anniversary ceremony Saturday morning. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama plan to attend separate memorial services at the Pentagon and at Shanksville, Pa., where more than 200 others were killed in the 2001 attacks.
But a debate over a planned mosque near ground zero that has polarized the nation could mar the ceremonies.
Thousands are expected at protests both for and against the proposed Islamic center and mosque north of ground zero. Some victims’ family members are torn about whether to engage in a political rally on the anniversary of their loved ones’ deaths.
