Anti-Islamic Sentiments vs Hearts and Minds

There are two conservative blogs I've read this morning that honestly believe that we are in a war with Islam (I won't embarrass them by naming them). To win that war we need to kill all anti-American, islamic fundamentalists or islamofascists as they are called in the conservative world.

Well, let the killing begin, because we have a lot of anti-American sentiment out there among Islamic nations. Take our ally Pakistan for example. A recent poll, conducted for Terror Free Tomorrow by D3 Systems of Vienna, Virginia, asked, face to face, 1044 Pakistanis who they supported. They answered:

1. Osama bin Laden 46%
2. Pervez Musharraf 38%
3. George Bush 9%

Asked their opinion on the real purpose of the U.S.-led war on terror, 66 percent of poll respondents said they believe the United States is acting against Islam or has anti-Muslim motivation. Others refused to answer the question or said they did not know.

Those 66% of Pakistanis are right. From what I can tell the grassroots conservatives of America do have anti-Islam motivations in the so-called war on terror. Only 4% of Pakistanis think the USA has a good motivation in the WOT.

Seventy-four percent said they oppose U.S. military action against al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan. I wonder what the populace of our allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia think of the USA?

I understand that for many conservatives this poll doesn't matter. Afterall, these are just a bunch of "rag headed religious fundamentalists". In my mind it matters a great deal. Followers of Islam make up 21% of the worlds population. That's 1.5 billion people. Is that how many we have to kill? Apparently the precise number of muslims in the USA isn't known but it's probably around 2 million. That is one whole heck of a lot of killing that needs to be done.

What are the beliefs of Islam? I like two websites that can help answer this question. The first is Religious Tolerance. This website addresses all types of religions. Go here for their take on Islam. The second, and more detailed, is Islam 101. If you don't have the time or inclination to educate yourself about the Islamic religion then just read this.