Phil of Preston
If what you think was even remotely true, there would not be a single christian or jew living in the middle east today.
Your information is completely biased & mistaken. Arabs were not kicked out of Spain, muslims were along with jews too. There is nothing in the middle eastern history that resembles the spanish inquistion or the holocaust, so spare me your ignorance.

sherif, cairo,

To Alice Adams in London, Actually every single one of the Iraqi civilian deaths are caused by USA and British troops because there would be no religious extremists in Iraq if the USA and Britain had not attacked it because it's government possesed weapons of mass destruction. There was no rational and cohesive plan as to how they would save the crumbling, anarchic wreck after they had bombed it to pieces on those fake charges. The resulting charade of double speak from Bush and Blair makes one realise that they have the technology but they simply don't have the brains or humanity. Several hundred thousand civilian deaths later and with the country now at war with itself with no end in sight I have to say that I find the opininons of some "enlightened" Westerners very hard to take. Saddam was a monster but he was "containable". The depest irony was that he acted as a bulwark against Islamic Extremism especially Al Qaeda. But they are there for good now thanks to Blair and Bush.

Robert, London, UK

How can there ever be any dialogue and understanding between faiths when people like Derek S, Dundee, express such extreme views? Perhaps no one in the Muslim world should give two hoots about what the West thinks of them?

Ismail Yusuf, London,

Rozita, you are either naivete personified or a muslim pretending your 'religion' is one of peace. Grow up and/or stop lying.

Derek S, Dundee,

Where is the concern for all the integration and espousing of Muslim view encraocahin on our school systems in various states supported by Saudi money???

Edward Mazer, Chandler, AZ

if us turns back from bullying less powerful countries, then there will not be a single supporter of Bin Laden on earth. Try this and see the result. one cannot live in peace while making others life a living hell. Peace accompanied by justice. As long as they are separated there remains the threat of attack from one or another.

raja, NY, US

Emzy Veazy III...I am not sure how hard he tried for his green card,but actions speak better than words.

gabe, Dub, ireland

If Muslims kept their religious intolerance to their own countries instead of trying to impose their hideous, 7th century views on the rest of us, they would have no reason to fear the US. I, for one, am glad to hear they fear us. I am still violently offended by what they did on 9/11--and at this point, I could care less if they feel fear. They should.

Rudy Ellis, Baltimore, MD, USA

Amazing. Members of "The Religion of Peace" are coming to realise that blowing oneself up on a bus might not be the good idea we all previously thought it was. It's a shame it has to be news.

Jon F, Glasgow,

continued...

It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority" the "silent majority" is cowed and extraneous. Communist Russia comprised Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

China's huge population, it was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War 2 was not a war-mongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel and bayonet.

Ivor, Chelmsford,

To Robert in London... I am not sure what history books you have been reading! Islamic extremism is not a modern invention or a distortion of Islam. You seem to forget that Islam was initially established and spread by the use of the sword. Clearly there have been various expressions of Islam in different parts of the world throughout history, but essentially it has never departed from this philosophy.

I have no doiubr that you experienced kindness and hospitality in Muslim countries, but I don't think you should confuse that with the core teaching of the Islamic faith. Further , if you lived as an indigenous Christian (or other minority member) in many Muslim countries throughout the world I believe you would have a very different perspective. The kindness shown to guests is often not replicated to the dhimmi - the millions of non-Muslim second class citizens of the islamic world.

Andrew brown, Derby, UK

Robert of London....very sorry, but 'locals' are always very pleasant aren't they. Very little crime in N.Korea etc. But you wouldn't want to live in these kind of places would you.
...and they always head West for choice.

Phil, Preston,

Let’s dispel this myth that it's only a few fanatics who are causing the jihads and bombings. We MUST learn the lessons from the recent history of this planet…

A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War Two owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

"Very few people were true Nazis "he said," but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

continued...

Ivor, Chelmsford,

The irrational and wholly uninformed views expressed by Ellen Morris and other contributors is really rather depressing. It is really rather ironic given the gist of the views expressed that such views in themselves are ill-informed, illogical and display a marked sense of bigotory, prejudice and hate. Really is rather depressing.

Roger-Hayword Smith, london,

To Robert in London: Assume for a moment that we accept your assertion that you as a westerner would be safer on the streets of most Middle Eastern cities than a Muslim would be on the streets of London. While you thank your lucky stars for this blessing, remember that this is only because you are not a member of one of the groups oppressed by followers of Islam. For a western woman, the same is not true. Also worth noting is that the majority of the civilian deaths in Iraq that you refer to are caused by other Muslims, not by American troops.

Alice Adams, London, UK

We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.

Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.

It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.

Ivor, Chelmsford,

continued...

And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.

Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up because like my friend from Germany, they will awake one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Ivor, Chelmsford,

To Ms Ellen Morris, you are writing about 'general lack of education' - what is your source for that? Do you have any idea of the level of education in some of the Arab countries? Do you know how many well-educated academics are 'imported to UK and US to fill vacancies? Please educate yourself about these countries before starting to make indiscriminate judgements. I've been to several of the countries myself and met mainly educated and respectable people, that know the history and current sitaution of US and Europe, which is more than I can say of many Americans that hardly know how to point out any of the countries of this study on the map.

Charlotte , Madrid,

Thats nice of them. Jolly nice I say.

Ripsnorter (ex-pat), Almeria, Spain

Their religion, absence of free-thought and general lack of education (in anything other than religion) must make it difficult for muslims to come to any rational decisions. This is compounded by the fact that any decisions they do make have to be based upon whatever biased views they are presented with by their dictatorial governments. Clearly Islam has nothing to fear from the West - the opposite is very obviously not the case.

Ellen Morris, Leeds,

To Phil in Preston; Don't confuse Islam and religious extremism. Historically Islam has been very tolerant of other faiths until Wahabi which is a wicked and distorted form of Islam comparable to Spanish Catholicism at the time of the Inquisition. I think as a Westerner I would be safer on the streets of most Middle Eastern cities than a Moslem would be on the streets of London or New York. I have been there and met nothing but kindness and generous hospitality. GW Bush is not quiet about his religious beliefs yet look at the numbers of civilian deaths - the disaster of the continuing Iraq War and try to see how this looks from a Moslem perspective.

Robert, London, UK

Derek S. What a silly thing to say. The muslim community is 1.6 BILLION strong, only 85% of which are arab. There is something in that religion that crosses borders and racial divides. Undoubtably you are the minority with your unjustifiable comments. Why not spread a message of peace rather than hate. It's that what jesus also taught?

Rozita , UK, London,

Emzy........and MY knowledge of history tells me that it was almost a religious obligation on Islam to attack "non-believers" ....way before the USA was even invented....way before there was oil. Ever since the 14th century they've been at it - ever since they were kicked out of Spain.

Phil, Preston,

Nobody seems to be keen to mention the INCREASE in support for suicide bombings in our would-be partner in the EU, Turkey. Not to mention their "growing hostility towards the West".

Ben D, Glasgow,

emzy veasy== ask any young person if they wish to go and live in the u.s.a. and you will be surprised at the answer= a resounding yes to u.s. britain . and western europe in general. by a great nany of moslem . they think they have entered paradise with our welfare systems and free education and jobs if they want them.. its these self hating liberals that cause the greatest fear among the third world

max bernstein, LONDON, uk

So the biggest threats are terrorism and the USA. I think most of humanity will agree to that. While terrorism works in the underground with sympathies in the population, the USA works in big military business threatening a dozen of countries. The Kissinger/Schultz/Rubin/Graham/Nunn/O'Reilly delegation to Moscow may tell us about. See Moscow Times and The Guardian, as other media did not refer to that. By the way, isn't it the US to ask for a 'modernization' of the nuclear arsenal?

Joachim Kappert, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

Wheres the western opinion polls of the middle east? I think our unelected leaders in the media wouldn´t like what we thought about muslims and the middle east in general !!!

tom, Sydney, Australia

When will some one ask westerners the same questions ? I think we would see the threat of middle east and islamic racism as the biggest concerns

tom, Sydney, Australia

I see this report as good news & bad news.
One, it shows Islamists have scored an own goal with their indiscriminate , violent suicide bombings.
Muslims are now learning, that the majority of killings in Iraq are being carried out , by & on their fellow Muslims.
The moderates can see how fruitless all this loss of life is.
My hope is parents will see what it is they are indoctrinating their children with, the term coming out of Arabia , ' fake Jihad ' may, just may & could be used which would make such a huge difference to hostile attitudes.
As for the US military might, time for some generous rebuilding & less talk of war on terror, we know the work has to continue , but please Mr Bush try to be more subtle by softening your language, be more conciliatory instead of appearing like a bully showing off his toys.

Maggie Millington, Brittany, France

If they turned their backs on their so-called religion then we might get somewhere. Until then no sensible person should give two hoots for what these people think.

Derek S, Dundee,

Their religion, their common sense and their knowledge of history makes so many Muslims surveyed worried about future threats from the United States of America.

Also imperialism, neocolonialism, racism (racialism) and Euro-American Christian impositions force these Third World countries' citizens to have logical reasons to feel threatened by the U.S.

Emzy Veazy III, Aspen, Colorado/USA