I love Barack Obama, it's true, I genuinely do. It's nothing sexual, although he is a good looking chap, and it's not because he was the first non-white President of the United States, it's because when I look at him and listen to his arguments he makes me want to try that little bit harder at acheiving my goals and doing the right thing.

I've followed his career closely ever since his Democratic National Convention speech in 2004, when he literally blew me -and much of the rest of the world- away with arguably the best speech since Mario Coumo's in the DNC of 1984- I'd actually rate them equally as brilliant.

Due to this undying love I have for the American leader I'm always quick to defend him and fight his corner, even when it seems many are questioning him. My tactic in the past has been like supporting my football team, I argue the case first blindly defending them and check the facts later, then argue the case some more. So when I heard Obama was backing a plan to build a mosque on the site of ground zero despite being a little surprised and even wondering if it was a good idea, I backed my hero to the hilt.

Many Americans were not impressed on the idea of building a mosque near the site of their biggest tragedy in recent memory which of course came at the hands of Islamic extremists. Now let's get one thing straight, in my humble opinion- and hopefully most sane people's- extremists and muslims are not one and the same. Putting them in the same catergory is like saying all Germans are National Socialists or all Chinese people are Triads. It's short-sighted, erroneous and racist.

During the 2008 Presidential campaign the American fear of Islamic fundamentalists was exploited to the hilt by some of the so-called 'candidates.' First up was Hillary Rodham Clinton who realising that Obama was looking increasingly likely to win the nomination to become the Democratic candidate seemed to lose sight of her integrity. Now I've always been a fan of Clinton, I thought her dignity around the whole Monica Lewinsky affair and her general demeanour and rhetoric have always been admirable, she's a strong woman and I felt she was sometimes penalised for that by certain people. However when the question of whether Obama was a muslim came up her answer left me slightly disappointed.

The "as far as I know" may have been a flippant remark, but for me a woman as intelligent and interview savvy as Clinton knew exactly what she was doing, sowing a little seed of doubt just in case anyone wasn't quite convinced. This is hardly a capital offence but it disappointed me somewhat that she seemed to miss the bigger picture...step forward Colin Powell.

When Obama did gain the Democratic nomination, the Republicans unleashed the hockey mom from hades, Sarah Palin. This woman made Clinton look like a pussy cat as she accused Obama of 'palling around with terrorists' and 'being a muslim' while she silmutaneously baked a cake and packed her five kid's school lunches.

As the accusations that Obama was a muslim came flying out of the Palin camp- although to be fair John McCane was never quite so vociferous in these accusations- Republican Colin Powell served up a bit of rational perspective which  was for me the highlight of the entire presidential race. Yes I loved Obama's 'Yes We Can' speech and Jesse Jackson's comedy gold 'I wanna cut his nuts off' moment, but Powell's Meet the Press interview where the former Secretary of State gave his reason for going against his party and backing the Democratic nominee was nothing short of brilliant. With four simple words Powell re-inforced my faith in American politics which had been dampened by some of the tactics I was seeing employed.

Those four simple words? "What if he is?" Exactly, thank you General Powell, you are a genius. Powell went on to underline his point with an even better- if that's possible- question: "Is there something wrong with being a muslim in this country?" He hadn't finished, "Is there something wrong with a seven year-old muslim kid believing he or she can be president?" Wow! It really was that simple. You can check out the interview here and if you have time I suggest you do, its arguably the best interview of recent years and parts of it almost moved me to tears.

The point I'm making is the campaign had lost sight of the true issues and the 'bogeymen' i.e 'islamic fundamentalists' were used by some to try and de-rail Obama's candidacy.

Since becoming President Obama has had a lot to deal with and achieved some amazing things, not least his Health Care Bill, which was  the last bastion of the unfulfilled liberal agenda. However when I heard he was backing the plans for a ground zero mosque, I was more than a little worried.

It's not because I think that muslims don't have a right to worship anywhere they want, it's that I believed building a mosque on such a historically emotionally charged site, would merely induce anger towards muslims in America rather than build any bridges between them and non-muslims.

I feared it would be used by members of the right wing of American politics and the press to induce the sort of fears we've seen in every society since the beginning of civilisation- the fear of 'them' taking over from 'us.' However it wasn't just the right wing that were against the idea with many Democrats also believing it to be a mistake.

Leading Democrat Nevada Senator Harry Reid was one of many against the idea, a Reid spokesman said: "The First Amendment protects freedom of religion.

"Senator Reid respects that, but thinks that the mosque should be built some place else."

It is understandable that many Americans are against the idea, but the president has defended it.

Obama has responded by stating "As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country."

Firstly lets get one straight, it isn't just a mosque it is an islamic centre which will have a basketball court, restaurant and swimming pool. Now I'm no muslim -as far as I know- but I have been to a mosque before and I definitely didn't take my swimming trunks. This is an islamic centre which will give muslims in the Manhattan area the chance to worship but also socialise and relax. It's not a breeding ground for extremists- it's a recreational centre with a prayer room.

Then there's the location, after all its not whether its a mosque or not that's the sole issue its the place its built in- or site its on. However even that is not as clear as members of the Tea Party would have you believe, this isn't the Overlook Hotel from The Shining, built in the graves of 9/11 victims rather than Native -Americans, the mosque is two blocks from the World Trade Centre site. Now I live in the UK and two blocks here can mean ten seconds away but from what I've seen on Google Earth and my own experience of American streets, this Islamic Centre is a good distance from the actual site of ground zero.

Buidling any sort of Islamic building anywhere near the site of such a horrendous and tragic event that is still fresh in the minds of many Americans is always going to induce feelings of disbelief and anger but if Obama's Presidency has taught us anything it's that change is possible and bridges can be built- if those bridges come in the form of an Islamic centre then it could be a step in the right direction towards ending the idea that the words 'islam' and 'extreme' are anything to do with one another.