Our overextended war on terror has delivered terrible returns; from marginal extremist we have jihadists who have statist ambitions—and there’s enough chaos to make that a realistic proposition. There are more radicals now than there were 15 years ago. We have to combat them, fight them and defeat them. But we don’t need to misrepresent who they are or where they came from, not just because that would be dishonest, but because it would make it that much harder to triumph over them. more . . .
What a completely shallow worthless article with no detailed research. It serves little except as a hit piece for the well-regarded article in the Atlantic titled "What ISIS Really Wants". Unlike this article the "What ISIS Really Wants" by Graeme Wood included detailed research with Muslim Islamic scholars, university researchers, and foreign policy experts. Wood's article has been well regarded internationally, especially by the Muslim community. Let's post a link to the "What ISIS Really Wants" article which this poor Salon article is trying to tear down. People can read both and decide for themselves which is the well-researched detailed article and which is gratuitous prattle. What ISIS Really Wants http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/
Here is what most muslims really believe. Pew Research (2007): 26% of younger Muslims in America believe suicide bombings are justified. 35% of young Muslims in Britain believe suicide bombings are justified (24% overall). 42% of young Muslims in France believe suicide bombings are justified (35% overall). 22% of young Muslims in Germany believe suicide bombings are justified.(13% overall). 29% of young Muslims in Spain believe suicide bombings are justified.(25% overall). http://pewresearch.org/assets/pdf/muslim-americans.pdf#page=60 al-Jazeera (2006): 49.9% of Muslims polled support Osama bin Laden http://terrorism.about.com/b/2006/09/11/al-jazeeras-readers-on-911-499-support-bin-laden.htm Pew Research (2010): 49% of Nigerian Muslims have favorable view of al-Qaeda (34% unfavorable) 23% of Indonesians have favorable view of al-Qaeda (56% unfavorable) 34% of Jordanians have favorable view of al-Qaeda 25% of Indonesians have "confidence" in Osama bin Laden (59% had confidence in 2003) 1 in 5 Egyptians have "confidence" in Osama bin Laden http://pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/ Pew Research (2010): 84% of Egyptian Muslims support the death penalty for leaving Islam 86% of Jordanian Muslims support the death penalty for leaving Islam 30% of Indonesian Muslims support the death penalty for leaving Islam 76% of Pakistanis support death the penalty for leaving Islam 51% of Nigerian Muslims support the death penalty for leaving Islam http://pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/ 83% of Pakistanis support stoning adulterers 78% of Pakistanis support killing apostates http://www.realcourage.org/2009/08/pakistan-78-percent-call-for-apostate-deaths/
These studies illustrate some important points. Islam isn't monolithic. It is heartening to see some moderation in countries like Indonesia. However, this is counterbalanced by how doctrinaire some muslim countries are. So much of Islam is incompatible with liberal western values. I'm not sure why liberals are so terrified of pointing out fundamental differences between our culture and theirs.