The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned Tuesday an American church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops in the country and Americans worldwide.

The continuing controversy over a proposed Islamic community center and mosque to be built near the site of the former World Trade Center has some in the counterterrorism community worried about the fallout in the Muslim world.

While the controversy surrounding the proposed Muslim Community Center and Mosque at Ground Zero continues on in the U.S., another site of worship has been restored and opened in the most unlikely place—Beirut, Lebanon.

APDS Blogger: John Nahas

While the controversy surrounding the proposed Muslim Community Center and Mosque at Ground Zero continues on in the U.S., another site of worship has been restored and opened in the most unlikely place—Beirut, Lebanon. The Magen Avraham Synagogue in Beirut’s Wadi Abu Jmil district reopened this past week after nearly three decades of being closed due to significant damage during the Lebanese civil war.

There is concern that protests in the United States against the construction of a mosque near the site of the 2001 terrorist attacks could bolster anti-American extremists in the Muslim world.

Most Arab columnists agree with the argument that the anti-mosque movement will badly harm Arab and Muslim views of the United States, contra Rashed, but there isn't as much active discussion of it in the forums as you'd expect. That isn't a reason to relax, though.

Across the world, the bruising struggle over an Islamic center near ground zero has elicited some unexpected reactions....For many in Europe...America’s fight over Park51 seems small fry...But others, especially in countries with nothing similar to the constitutional separation of church and state, find it puzzling that there is any controversy at all.

On August 12--the day before President Obama first weighed in on the "Ground Zero mosque" debate, setting off a fresh wave of media coverage--the Daily Beast quietly reported that the lower-east-side Islamic community center will house the country's first LEED-certified mosque. With their intention to seek LEED certification, Park 51's planners join a growing cadre of religious leaders and communities dedicated to creating green spaces of worship, education, and leisure.