How does this bigotry get a place on a respectable journal?

So sorry, mac, if I've introduced a little psychological symmetry into the subject.

I can understand how it must offend simplistic notions of "good vs evil"......and how satisfying it must be to demonise one side while ignoring the universal human penchant for savagery.

Carry on......

Wake up commenters! This isn't about history, it's about Jihadist aspirations and the failure of the West to mount any effective response to the very manifesto published by the Muslim Brotherhood, calling for its members to concentrate their efforts on Jihad by stealth throughout Europe and the U.S. According to this plan, terrorist acts are a distraction to be used as a stark contrast to the Brotherhood's select "moderate" Muslims, who will increasingly enter political life, stand for public office, qualify in the professions, enter the Judiciary and gradually extend Shariah Law across the globe. It's all laid out for those with the sense to go to the source. The highly respected U.S. think tank, Team B, published a 300+ page assessment of the risk of Global Jihad and the spread of Shariah Law. I recommend their report as essential reading re this entire issue.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO JIHADISTS.

The number of virgins who await you is now ZERO, you would be advised to ask for your 44 virgins before you mindlessly blow yourself up.

"Important notice to those who prefer vacuous emotive rhetoric."

Philip S. has now joined the conversation.....

LOL, hysterical much? You speak Arabic, do you ozshrink? Yeah, right. Perhaps Yiddish...

As for the current internecine strife in Syria, etc, it is inevitable that states in which there is pressure from without and a split on religious grounds within will end up in conflict. Wikipedia has a nice list

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Religion-based_civil_wars

Yes, I realise you won't read it, but it still exists...

Karl, I'm presently studying at tertiary level the historical expansion of Islam following the death of Mohammed. One of the features of that expansion was that it had as a priority the fostering of trade and cultural exchange and the imposition of a just system of laws on populations that were often under despotic rule. The despots of medieval Europe were scared to death of it.

However, none of that has much to do with the article any more than the article has much to do with the real world. Not a good advertisement for the author's work.