I pray (fervently) that you are correct. But I am surprised that he hasn't formed a committee of moderate American muslims to lead the way. To put American fears to rest. To tell us that these fiends who kill innocents will be spurned (and indeed...are spurned).
But that hasn't happened. We just get the same tired language about the "religion of peace." I wonder if he isn't blinded by his friendships with the Saudis (he grew up in that environment)...doesn't he know about Wahhabism?
Also, I worry that the Prez thinks islam is a problem which can be solved only with military force. It is an ideo/religious problem...you can't shoot that.
I don't think he'll use military force, personally. Thanks to the Dems, nobody is going to do that until a traceable bomb destroys one of our cities.
You're right that this is a challenge of ideology. Probably Bush will stall until it's somebody else's problem, because the press is against him, academics are against him, the EU is against him, and, in addition, he's neither a theologian nor a philosopher. (He's a pragmatic manager who is being stalled by a very uncooperative bunch of lower level nobodies whom he should have fired the moment he set foot in the WH - but maybe that's just me...)