A new poll says most Americans are opposed to Cordoba House, the Islamic community center that will be built near the World Trade Center site, while another says a third of all Americans believe mainstream Islam encourages violence. What does it all mean for Muslims in America? Also, this morning's headlines.

This summer, city-backed plans to build an interfaith community center and mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero sparked an international debate.  Although there are nuances to the arguments, one side clearly feels that building a mosque near the site of the September 11th attacks is an affront to the victims; on the other hand, supporters say that there is no reason to block the plans, beyond simple “Islamophobia.” 

Every year, with NYPD sponsorship, 200 young kids, most of them Muslim, gather in open spaces to yell and throw and hit.  More specifically, they're praising glovesmanship, bowling carrom balls, and knocking Dilscoops: They're playing cricket for the "NYPD United."

President Obama spoke to a crowd at the Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio, yesterday. He continued a week of painting the GOP as naysayers and describing his plan to address the ailing economy: tax cuts on those making less than $250,000 a year paid for by closing business tax loopholes, and tax write-offs for businesses' research and development efforts as well as investments in new equipment and jobs.  Obama also described the U.S. as having done better under Clinton-era tax rates than those under President Bush's tax cuts. 

Two U.S. soldiers were killed and nine were wounded by an Iraqi soldier during a firefight on Tuesday afternoon. The U.S. military has characterized the attack as "deliberate." This is the first attack on American soldiers since President Obama declared an end to combat operations in Iraq. For a look at what this event means for the future of the US's mission in Iraq, as well as what it means for the soldiers on the ground, The Takeaway turns to Steven Lee Myers, Baghdad bureau chief for our partner, The New York Times.

No matter what one's position on a given war, it’s often hard to put language on it. War is so colored by politics and the press, it’s sometimes hard to understand why people are fighting—as our recent wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan make abundantly clear.

But literature can help us. It can give us the context to understand war, because even if there are politics in a story, they’re deeply personal—they’re about people, and not just soundbites. Novels often recognize that there really aren’t concrete winners and losers. And, more often than not, they acknowledge the surreality of war.

Our friend, Patrik Henry Bass, senior editor at Essence Magazine, has read many books about war. And he’s here with some that have helped him to better understand how it touches people’s lives.

If you accept the popular media narrative of the moment, the Democrats are fated to lose big this November. President Obama, though, is determined not to let his party go quietly into the night, unveiling new policies and working on his message during the last week, but are his efforts too little too late? That and this morning's headlines.

President Obama gave a sweeping economic address to a handpicked crowd of 800 people near Cleveland, Ohio yesterday… partly to announce several new economic proposals, partly to try to set a new tone for the midterm election campaigns. 

It was his second speech on the economy this week; in it, he proposed $180 billion dollars in new business tax breaks and infrastructure spending, to get businesses spending and hiring again. 

But even if Congress passes the proposals, would they be enough to turn the economy around in a substantial way? And will it do anything to improve fortunes for the Democrats heading into the November 2nd elections?

Hillary Clinton is saying a "new American moment" has arrived on the international stage. We're looking at past "moments" in American history. What was America's finest moment for you? Was it the moon landing? The March on Washington? Let us know in the comments or text 69866 with the word TAKE.

In Afghanistan’s Kandahar City, nearly 500,000 residents try to go about their daily lives while U.S. troops, Afghan police and Taliban fighters battle for ground. And important ground it is; the major trading center has long been a home base for the Taliban in Afghanistan, and proved a consistent and troublesome flashpoint for Soviets during their own occupation of the country.

Today, the city continues to go through transitions, both symbolic and tangible. Though a new push by NATO forces has removed some of the Taliban’s more visible presence, fighters continue to assassinate members of the police, battle U.S. troops, and detonate suicide bombs throughout the city.

Today, the NFL's 91st season will kick off, with the New Orleans Saints, last year's Super Bowl champs, facing the Minnesota Vikings. 2010 is a good year to be the National Football League; the organization is currently creating more revenue in America than other pro sports leagues (last year's numbers are close to $8.5 billion). With the league's embrace of Fantasy Football, TV deals and merchandising at an all time high, fans are as excited and engaged as ever for the approximately 17-week season.

But 2011 may offer barely any NFL football play at all, thanks to a brewing standoff between owners and players over season and salary extensions.

Of all the commemorations of September 11th planned for this weekend, Pastor Terry Jones' "Burn A Quran Day" is almost certainly proving the most inflammatory. Jones has announced that with others, he will host a Koran-burning at the "Dove World Outreach Center" in Gainesville, Fla. this weekend. Jones has made international news with his planned action, drawing the ire of everyone from Muslims to Gen. David Petraeus, who says the Pastor's event will endanger U.S. troops abroad. The event has also brought out critics from within his own Evangelical Christian faith.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Fransisco dismissed a lawsuit brought by former prisoners of the C.I.A. who claim that they were tortured in overseas prisons. The divided 6-5 decision is the latest episode of the ongoing legal drama over extraordinary rendition, a C.I.A. program that allegedly transfers prisoners to foreign countries in order to torture them.

The decision is a legal victory for the Obama administration, which has argued that such lawsuits are dangerous as they might expose state secrets. The argument of state secrecy was also used to obstruct lawsuits during the Bush administration.