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Originally posted by Odium
Anyone else notice it is;
"Muclim, Imam, Cleric, etc".
Instead of;
"FDNY Chaplain".
Questioned about who he believed was responsible for the attacks, Habib said he didn't know. He said, however, that he did not expect to raise his doubts with rank-and-file firefighters -- nor did he share them two weeks ago when he participated in several Sept. 11 memorials on behalf of the Fire Department.
"My position as a chaplain is that whoever did it, it's a tragic incident," he said. "I feel sorrow for the families who lost loved ones and for the firefighters who died in it. Whoever did it, it was a very wrong thing. It's always wrong to take an innocent human life."
Mayor Bloomberg said he welcomed Habib's resignation. "The remarks were offensive and the mayor is satisfied that the chaplain has resigned," mayoral spokesman Ed Skyler said.
"He has no place in the New York Fire Department," said retired firefighter Jack Duggan of Rockland County. "I lost too many friends that day to listen to that rubbish."
"For a supposedly educated man, that's an incredibly ignorant statement," said George Baade of Ladder 14 in East Harlem. "His loyalty obviously doesn't lie with us, or with the United States."
Scoppetta said Habib and several other clerics were recommended by the Islamic Society. The society represents more than 100 Muslim fire personnel.
"He was vetted, there was a background check and a fingerprint check, and there was nothing negative that came up," he said. "We don't usually consider political views. This is an unusual situation."
A spokesman for the Islamic Society said the group took responsibility for recommending Habib without probing his opinions.
"We spoke with him and none of us thought those were his ideas of Sept. 11," said retired Fire Marshal Kevin James, a past president of the group. "He is entitled to his views, but it would not be appropriate for him to be a chaplain for the FDNY."
On the eve of a Republican National Convention invoking 9/11 symbols, sound bytes and imagery, half (49.3%) of New York City residents and 41% of New York citizens overall say that some of our leaders "knew in advance that attacks were planned on or around September 11, 2001, and that they consciously failed to act," according to the poll conducted by Zogby International. The poll of New York residents was conducted from Tuesday August 24 through Thursday August 26, 2004.
Habib told Newsday that he was skeptical of the official version of the attack on the World Trade Center, which killed 343 members of the Fire Department of New York.