FDNY Chaplain Resigns After 9/11 Remarks

[albion]

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>FDNY Chaplain Resigns After 9/11 Remarks</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN, Associated Press Writer<br><br>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.<br><br>"It became clear to him that he would have difficulty functioning as an FDNY chaplain," Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told reporters an hour before Imam Intikab Habib was to be officially sworn in. "There has been no prior indication that he held those views."<br><br>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.<br><br>"I've heard professionals say that nowhere ever in history did a steel building come down with fire alone," he told the newspaper.<br><br>"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?"<br><br>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.<br><br>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.<br><br>"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."<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050930/ap_on_re_us/fdny_muslim_chaplain;_ylt=Am_H.L3vl8Je6WxSVXRavClG2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl">news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050...MlJVRPUCUl</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[dbeach]

he spoke the truth .therefore he got fired.<br>life in bushevekia <p></p><i></i>

[marykmusic]

Jack Nicholson's second-best movie line (after "He-e-e-ere's Johnny!") was, "You can't handle the truth!"<br><br>Truth.<br><br>It's not about whether something's true or not, but whether the listener's Reality Box is big enough to hold it.<br><br>Interesting that, within the FDNY, there are those still talking about how this building came down so quickly and how that just doesn't jive. Somebody's Reality Box is stretching out, to handle the Truth. --MaryK <p></p><i></i>

[zangtang]

that suprises me - i'd wager there's not a single NYC firefighter that even begins to believe the official version <p></p><i></i>

[wintler]

Glad they're reporting at least some of his words, helping stretch that box. Find it difficult judging that with people met, so easy to blow someone out.<br><br>I think media are reporting/televising the actual words of Chavez, Shehan, Bin Laden, Nader, McKinney (and any other 'extreme'/suitless source) much less and instead paraphrasing, describing, or reacting to them (compared to even 12 months ago). Betcha there'll soon be another run of crude but widely reproduced media debunking a slew of conspiracy theories. <p></p><i></i>

[greencrow0]

More power to the fellow who spoke out.<br><br>9/11 researchers should get behind him in a 'wrongful dismissal' lawsuit to bring the issue before a court.<br><br>Then it could be used to placed the facts of 9/11 in a legal forum.... <p></p><i></i>