Ugh, DU. The anti-Muslim sentiment here is getting to me.

[JCMach1]

183. Cali, it's complicated and people don't like complicated answers...

Salafists and fundamentalist Muslims are every bit as awful as they have been portrayed. They are guilty as charged and backed by the bottomless pockets of the Saudis. They are enemies of civilization and democracy.

On another side are the vast majority of Muslims who are civilized, love their children, and believe in a softer, more tolerant, and peaceful Islam.

Then, there are also many (I will just call them MINO's, Muslims in Name Only) who are largely secular and much more concerned about the trappings of Western and modern capitalist society.

And that is just a peak at the complicated picture.

There is NO SUCH THING as THE ARAB STREET. Media and politicians really, really need to get past that metaphor.

I have lived in the Muslim world the last 9 years (I have finally moved back to America) and what I learned is just how complex the Arab world is... Which is what many of the so-called 'experts' who live in 'think-tanks' have never really done. I have sat in Taxis and discussed politics in the Sudan. I have discussed socialism and policy with royalty from several countries. I have met conservative female college students wearing skimpy dress (think Madonna) and a corset. I have met extreme liberal feminist students who completely cover themselves.

I laugh when the American right-wing talk about the dangers of Sharia and the Caliphate. Show me two Muslims who agree on the finer points of Sharia and I will raise you an Imam. As for the Caliphate? ...Only if the Borg take over and convert Islam in the process.

So yeah, often the Right AND (sometimes) the Left piss me off with what they say about the region.