The controversy surrounding the proposed "Ground Zero Mosque" in Manhattan has brought attention to the severe shortage of available sacred grounds in the United States.

Sure, we have several Civil War battlefields, Pearl Harbor, the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the 9/11 farm in Pennsylvania, and a portion of the Pentagon.  That's hardly an abundance of sacrosanct real estate for those of us who like to suspend the constitution as we see fit and discriminate against Muslims.

While Americans lack a decent amount of suitable sacred grounds, we more than make up for it with our ability to create sacred grounds for others, often without as much as a simple "thank you" from the benefactors of our largesse, namely the Iraqi people.

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A piece of ordinary real estate becomes "sacred ground" when something happens that makes further commercial use of the land seem disrespectful or in some cases blasphemous. 

An enemy attack that kills thousands of innocent people, such as the horrific attacks of 9/11, certainly and rightfully elevate the site's standing as a place to be honored, revered, and always serve as a reminder that thousands died as a result of the hatred of others.

But while we Americans scrounge around for suitable places to draw our lines in the sand, we have thanklessly provided Iraq with hundreds and hundreds of such sites, at great expense to the American taxpayers.

I can't blame many of the Iraqi citizens for hating America and Americans.  After all, losing loved ones can be a hefty price to pay for the removal of a political leader who was no worse than many of the brutal dictators that we "do business" with every day.

But in the process of annihilating their country we have given the Iraqi people something that we have such a shortage of in this country:  Sacred grounds.  Thanks to our outstanding fleet of bombers, Iraq has "Ground Zeros" as far as the eye can see.  You can't walk fifty yards in Baghdad without coming across another potential sacred site.  If you fling a dead cat out of your apartment window chances are it will land on a "Ground Zero."

Our efforts, along with the loss of American lives and national treasure, have created hundreds of sacred grounds for the Iraqis to honor and worship, but as far as I know there hasn't even been a simple "thank you" from any of those obviously ungrateful folks.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, we have to scramble around to find available sacred grounds.  There are plenty of Indian burial grounds available but for some reason they seem to be mostly off limits to Americans of European descent.  The Indians (casino, not Slurpee) apparently are just as ungrateful (or overly sensitive) as the Iraqis.

So as the war in Iraq is allegedly winding down this is a good time to acknowledge (Americans don't apologize) our regret for killing so many Iraqi citizens and blowing up so much of their stuff.

But we won't hold our breath waiting for the thank you that will probably never come.

To to the few that do appreciate what we've done, "you're welcome."