FDNY Chaplain Resigns After 9/11 Remarks
By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK – The fire department’s new Muslim chaplain abruptly resigned Friday after saying in a published interview that a broader conspiracy, not 19 al-Qaida hijackers, may have been responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Why am I not surprised!
“It became clear to him that he would have difficulty functioning as an FDNY chaplain,” Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told reporters an hour before was to be officially sworn in. “There has been no prior indication that he held those views.”
Habib told Newsday in an interview published Friday that he was skeptical of the official version of the attack on the World Trade Center, which killed 343 firefighters.
“I’ve heard professionals say that nowhere ever in history did a steel building come down with fire alone,” he told the newspaper.
“It takes two or three weeks to demolish a building like that. But it was pulled down in a couple of hours,” he said. “Was it 19 hijackers who brought it down, or was it a conspiracy?”
The 30-year Guyana native joined the department as chaplain on Aug. 15 after the FDNY’s Islamic Society recommended him for the part-time position, which pays $18,000 a year.
Scoppetta said Habib, who was educated in Islamic law in Saudi Arabia and preaches at a New York mosque, had appeared qualified and passed a background check.
“It’s sad,” said Kevin James, a spokesman for the Islamic Society of Fire Department Personnel. “We had no idea those were his views. He’s entitled to his opinion but he’s not the right person for the chaplain.”
Well good grief! When is this kind of thing going to stop? Not only were we attacked on 9-11,but we all know that the attacks were happening long before that day.
Here are just a few….
1985 Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro
1988 Pan AM 103
1993 Feb, WTC bombed
1993 Oct, 18 US troops killed in Somalia
1996 Air Force complex bombed in Saudi.
1997 Iraq threatens to shoot down US planes.
1997 An Islamic militant opened fire on the observation deck of the
Empire State Building in New York/1998 US Embassies in Kenya
and Tanzania are bombed by Muslims.
2000 USS Cole bombed by Muslims.
Please, PLEASE stop the PC bull especially when it comes to the followers of Islam, the Mosques right here in the USA where they teach their hate and all the other things catering to them.
My nephew is a fireman in New York, Engine 205. He lost many friends that were firefighters and Chiefs as well from his station on September 11,2001.
Nuff said
Why do they even need a Muslim Chaplin in the NYFD?
The $18,000 salary would be better spent on equipment for the firefighters.
BobF exactly! Why in the heck do they need a Muslim Chaplin! grrrr