I'm not trying to excuse radical elements in Islam.
But when you take into context the 3rd world environments these people live in and combine it with the relatively "young" religion in Islam, this is what you get.
When you put the Dark Ages + Young Christianity together in Europe, you got loads of cruel and ugly **** done in the name of "God".
We are looking through a lens of 21st century civilization on a world where day-to-day life is much closer to the middle ages than any of us could imagine. In some ways that promise of simplicity is what lures so many young, frustrated muslims away from 21st century life and back to an age where you had land, a few goats, a wife, children and that's it. It's false promises to be sure, but it works.
There's a reason there are 20 survival reality shows on TV right now at almost any given time. Americans feel the same urge to simplify the complexities of modern life and to "get back to basics and nature".
We can't ban Islam. We can't wipe out the religion. We have to be patient with it's evolution away from violence and into the civilized world. I'm not saying roll over and accept acts of terror. I'm fine with the wars to date (although I disagree with their implementation). I think our government should be more outspoken against Sharia as incompatible with Western laws and civilization. I think we need to continue to live, by example, as accepting of minorities, religions, sexual preferences, et. al.
But we can not waiver in our laws. The law is what we need to embrace more than ever in our fight against radical fundamentalism. We can not allow any religion to supersede the laws of the land and our principle as a country should defer to that even in the face of political correctness. If our laws as a country can't accept aspects of Islam, then we shouldn't be embarrassed to say so. And we should demand every citizen and visitor in our country to follow the laws of the land no matter what.
It is the logic and morality of our legal system that will win the war on terror and radical religion in the end. Not guns and wars.