Disputed Barricade

Is the dispute against the Islamic center politically motivated?

Supporters and opponents of a proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque near the World Trade Center site staged competing rallies in downtown Manhattan on Sunday, kept apart by police and barricades.

The emotionally charged debate, which has gained national political significance, centers on plans to build the center two blocks from the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks by al Qaeda, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

Republicans against the project are using it to attack Democratic President Barack Obama ahead of midterm elections, where his party is fighting to retain control of Congress

akeed. almost everything these days is politically motivated. There really is no need for that debate, I think its more of an emotional issue for both sides (supporters and opponents). but then again, politics gets into everything, as well as the media, and that just drives the way people think and act, hence more debates occur....