US Muslims are circulating a petition condemning the bombing of the mosque in Fallujah that was used as cover by the mujahideen: Muslims in U.S. Voice Concern About Iraq.

Copies of the Westbury petition — written Thursday night by Ghazi Khankan, regional director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations — will be sent to 150 other mosques in the New York City area for more signatures.

“President Bush misled us to war in Iraq. He lied to us,” said one signer, Salahuddin Khwaja, a Melville businessman. “Iraqis and innocent soldiers are sacrificing their lives.”

Khankan’s petition, which also condemned Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, said the United States should only work through the United Nations.

At the Islamic Center of America in northwest Detroit, Imam Hassan Qazwini said that millions in Iraq and around the world were happy to see the collapse of the regime of Saddam Hussein.

But, he added, the situation there hasn’t improved and “the coalition forces are moving from one mistake to another.”

“Yes, we condemn the killing of innocent people, and there is no justification for this kind of massacre,” he said, referring to the slaying and mutilation of four American contractors in Fallujah. [ed. note: a formality, gotten out of the way as quickly as possible…]

“BUT there’s no justification for killing women and innocent children, there is no justification for attacking mosques. … We have to respect the Muslim community.”

Imam Muhammad Musri, leader of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, said in an interview that “when the images of the mosque being bombed are over and over on satellite channels Iraqis are watching, it’s just going to really change the minds of many Iraqis — that U.S. troops are not there to help them install a democracy, but rather it’s a brutal occupying force.”

“So, something quick has to be done to restore the initial intended mission, and that is to free the Iraqi people and help them set up a democracy,” he said.

In his sermon on Long Island, Syed Z. Sayeed of the Columbia University Muslim Chaplain’s office, did not directly mention Iraq. But he said “democracy can’t be brought through the gun. It has to be brought through enlightenment and education.”

Well, that’s a debatable point; the United States required an armed revolution to be born. On the other hand, the Iranian mullahs responsible for fueling much of this violence certainly seem to think Islam can be brought through the gun. And they’re not much interested in debating it.

I’m waiting to hear the American Muslim community condemn the kidnappings that have taken place in Iraq, and demand that the mujahideen release their hostages unharmed.

< … waiting … >