Religions and political philosophies are common scapegoats for ethnic conflict, used by people more interested in glorifying their own blind adherence to some other religion or ideology.
Religions and ideologies are mutable. They fill vaccuums and do so in a shape that fits best. Any religion or ideology can become a reason to kill if there is a real political or material imbalance. And any religion or ideology can be twisted just as easily into a peaceful movement if that is what works best.
To believe that Islam is at the root of the problems in the Middle East is ignorance of the real economic and political issues and conflicts in the area... which could just as easily be served by another religion or ideology.
And the belief that an outside group can somehow destroy a religion is either apology for a future genocide or just plain ignorance of human nature. I can only imagine people believing in a new crusade are just so caught up in their own zealousness for the "Western" ideology or Christian faith. This is how holy wars are perpetuated.
The foolishness that leads to such perpetuation was emboldened by the Cold War. Of course the Cold War did not actually destory an ideology... It simply led to the fall of an empire. In this case we are not talking about any coherent empire... or anything that can even be imagined as such.
Also the fact that most Muslims on the planet are peaceful really puts a dent in the insane notion that religion is the root cause.

More Reaganite BS to preserve the legacy and goals of their own god.

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside