Although human naïveté is boundless, the likelihood of an organization hoping to promote understanding through what others view as desecration is remote. Cordoba Initiative’s organizers may not themselves think of building an Islamic centre and mosque near Ground Zero as desecration, but it can’t escape their notice that many Americans do. This being so, the builders cannot be motivated by what they claim to be. On the contrary, their Cordoba Initiative must be a $100-million exercise in exacerbating tensions…

Even if the Cordoba Initiative genuinely intended to alleviate rather than increase tensions, its supporters had to have noticed that they’re achieving the opposite. Far from promoting friendship, they’re likely to spend $100-million to promote enmity. There’s vocal opposition from relatives of 9/11 victims as well as from local Manhattan residents. This is the point at which reasonable people revise their plans.