Source: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060601529.html
On June 7, 2006 The Washington Post reported, "In the official speeches, no one mentioned Haditha. But as the Islamic Prayer Center was dedicated yesterday at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, recent violence in Iraq, including the killing of 24 civilians in the western Iraqi town, allegedly by Marines, was on the mind of some... 'If they would have asked someone like me to say something, they would have got the truth,' said [Aisha Greenleaf Abdul-Mateen], a Muslim and wife of a veteran. She would have stood at the podium and said that the Islamic Prayer Center was a 'beautiful, beautiful thing' but long overdue. She would have said that it shows 'equality' and 'justice' and 'respect,' but that those qualities were being lost in the bigger picture of the Iraq war. That the leaders weren't following what God wants. 'If they were,' she said, 'we wouldn't be in Iraq doing what we're doing -- hurting innocent people, having them take their clothes off and siccing dogs on them, and even what they're doing in Cuba.' Yesterday's ceremony marked the dedication of the building that has been in use by the base's Muslim community since the end of last year. The plan is to build a larger facility by 2009 to serve as a religious activities and family support center. Several who attended the ceremony described it as a positive step in relations with the Muslim community in the United States after a series of reported missteps recently in Iraq, such as the alleged atrocity in Haditha."