Because the liberal—dominated mainstream media does not want to define a line separating good and evil in their obsession with political correctness, it is time to draw some lines in the sand to understand what is at stake with the war on terrorism.

There are strains of the Muslim religion that have slowly grown over many years and have focused their views on very small portions of the religion, taking portions of it out of context to suit their militant needs.  Specifically, they cite portions of the Quran which emphasize intolerance, most notably the extermination of infidels and sinners. Those whom they consider to be infidels, sinners, and threats to their extremist religious views are Israel, the U.S., the Brits and anyone considered to be in alliance with Western values.

The extremists have instilled fear that adapting Western values (freedom of religion, tolerance of minorities, women's rights, certain forms of democracy — which means democracies that vote in leaders who aren't in line with their extremist views) yields sins that are punishable and must be purged from the Muslim society. The cost of removing these values can include killing family members, neighbors, women and children and/or sacrificing innocent life to protect and advance their ideas. 

Publicly opposing their extremist ideas, either by action or word, is an open request for retaliation.  Recent examples of this include the threats to the Saudis from bin Laden and the murder of Theo Van Gogh, all the way to death threats towards Iraqi citizens in an attempt to prevent them from voting. Their ONLY negotiation tool is fear. They realize that their way of life is at risk in Iraq and other places throughout the Middle East.  That is the reason for the attacks on Coalition soldiers, Iraqi police stations and officers, and election officials.

Tolerance and acceptance are not possible in their way of life, and this is why the Iraqis want these people out of their homeland and why the American—led Coalition want these terrorists out of Iraq.  Their efforts are far beyond hatred; their goal is utter extermination of views outside of their own.  If you don't believe this check the website www.memri.org and look at some of the video speeches of leading Muslim extremists to hear what their intentions are. 

The good news is that these extremists do not speak for the Arab or Muslim masses.  They may hold the powerful and prominent positions but they do not hold authority over the true desires of Iraqi civilians and other Muslims.

For evidence of their dwindling power and acceptance, one only needs to look at the actions of the Iraqi people.  If the Iraqi people, as a whole, were truly in support of the ideas of the extremist insurgents, then the armed forces that are there would have been forced to leave by a mass uprising of the Iraqis. Where are the violent mass demonstrations and huge daily protest marches?

The violence against Coalition forces comes from a small organized remnant of the Baathist dictatorship, supplemented by Islamists drawn from many countries. The Iraqi population wants something quite different, and they don't want to live in fear and under the reign of terror any longer. Despite the damage done by decades of Baathist misrule, Iraq has one of the best educated populations in the Arab world, and a historic position as an advanced, cosmopolitan and sophisticated model. Once democracy gains a toehold, and life begins to improve for ordinary Iraqis, the backward repressive regimes of other Arab tyrants will find themselves harder pressed to justify their own peoples' sufferings as a result of Western imperialism and Israeli 'oppression' of the Palestinians.

The days of a small militant extremist group dominating the Middle East are winding down.  Others in the Middle East will see Iraq's freedom and will realize that they, too, do not have to live in fear.  There is a distinction between extremist Islamists and the rest of the population. The extremists can only suppress the majorities for a limited time.  That time appears to be dwindling.  Expect to see the power and influence of the few to continue to dwindle as the ideas of freedom and liberty spread throughout the Middle East.