Ahmed Rehab discusses misconceptions about Islam and American Muslims, specifically addressing the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy, and reacts to recent Sarah Palin twitter comments about the issue.

“There are so many indicators in every instance of a potential bombing or an actual terror act that we always have knowledge of. The question is do we act upon it? Are we competent enough to be aware of that or not? In the case of the 19 hijackers of 9/11, we had files on every one of the 19. Condoleezza Rica had those files. Those files were not properly scrutinized. Its not for a lack of intelligence its for a lack of acting on that intelligence in a timely manner.”

I would love the opportunity to talk about my faith proactively when there isn’t something terrible happening. And everyday, good things are going on, but the one day that something bad happens, that’s when people become interested in our faith and that is troublesome.