I agree with that, however I still dont think people are willing to wake up to the ugly fact the real problem lies not with the United States, Israel or "The West" but throughout Islamic Society - it is only natural for societies with such opression and barbarity to use the most violent pieces of their religion. Only when the entire Islamic World can bring Islam out of the 7th Century can we see the end of apocalyptic Islamist terrorism - this unfortunately is the very opposite concept to Islamism which seeks to drag the entire World back into the 7th Century. I am not saying that Islam is an evil religion, I am saying that a religion is only as good (or bad) as the society that practices it; For example the Inquisition was religion being practiced in a most violent and brutal manner by a most violent and brutal society, same may be said about The Crusades and a whole slew of religious crimes in history, this is no different, its not just a case of a "few lone nuts" its a case of having millions of people indoctrinated into hatred and millions more who will let it slide by. Islam would be a great religion when the societies are able to match western nations in terms of Liberty, Democracy and Human Rights, until that happens there can only be death and destruction. We cannot bring about change by reinforcing those who desire the extermination of an entire people (The Jews), if you take a look at Palestinian and Arab media you can see the way that they portray Israelis and Americans, the Infidel becomes sub-human and worthy of death. This is all there to perpetuate the hatred, to reinforce the power structure for the Clerics and Leaders and maintain the wealth where it needs to be - upset that balance, the way the countries are led and you will see a drastic change in terms of a reduction in political violence.
I dont think that people can comprehend the threat that Islamic Terrorism poses to the world. By their very nature the terrorists are extreme and the standard models of detterence and anticipation that made the Cold War a game of calculated risk go out the window, the new paradigm is having groups that have only one goal - destruction. They also have nothing to loose, this threat will persist and it will only grow. Consider it much like Communism until the formation of the Soviet Union, when they topple the right governments the balance of power will shift dramatically and they may well hold the world to ransom.
* I should mention that Indonesia represents a very good Muslim nation, extremism does exist however the relative proportion of support for them isn't there and you have more progressive interperatations (Muhammadiyah is a brilliant example, a large Muslim organization that hold progressive values), its interesting to note however that Indonesia emerged from 50 years of dictatorship (Sukarno and Soharto) and since then the balance has been shifting, it is harder to supress violent Islamism but the question becomes is this principally an Indonesian problem or a global one, this is where the issue of influence and training for global terrorism take effect and the fact that any "War on Terrorism" must resemble a Marshall Plan more than any true war, a way to support countries that can directly threaten Islamism by cutting their support base, giving the people freedom and removing the promise that Islamism holds to so many. If this can be done on a large enough scale we will not only save lives in the streets of Western Cities we will guarantee peace in the Middle East and make serious gains in the quest for world peace.
There is absolutely no reason that Islam is incompatiable with progression, in fact the only way to ensure all our survival is to encourage progression and remove the barriers between societies - this is where globalization (a very, very broad term I know but still apt) can help. I would love to see a totally free middle east where Arabs can elect their own leaders without fear of torture or coercison, where money is spent to build infrastructure rather than bomb belts. It is possible all we need is to plant the seeds of liberty - from there great things shall grow. The alternative would be an Isolationist course, gradually cutting dependance on Arab oil eventually leading to massive instability, many civil wars and serious threat of global annihilation. This is a situation where it is better to go out and face the enemy directly, to sieze the support from beneath their feet and build a great society while they are still spouting hte same old rhetoric, it will ensure humanity can coexist into the future but we will not get there by ignoring brutality in the name of Political Correctness.