I fail to see why we should drag this conflict down to their level. We are America, an educated, civilized nation. We should be above this kind of naive idiological jihadism. Why can't we just see this situation for what it is? We have a group of people who are a security threat and we have to protect ourselves and others from this threat. Its the same thing as the police in our country. They don't pretend there's some apocalyptic conflict that they are involved in. They are just doing their job -- arresting those who break the law so society can function. That's all we're doing on a global scale. We do not have to buy into the childish Islamic thought process that this is a battle to defeat "infidels". If we ever want this conflict to end, we need to show the Islamic people that this is not about emotions on our part, but about natural consequences. If you are a threat, you will be taken care of. We don't hate these people, nor are we fighting some kind of radical holy war. We are simply making the world safe by eliminating those who would violate the rights of others. To claim otherwise is to validate everything the enemy preaches.
No purchase required, but it is foolish to not know what motivates the enemy. Their supposedly childish thoughts have been around and little changed for 1400 years. Robert Spencer's Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades is a great read and resource. Equating them to a gang of thugs needing only police attention is to seriously underestimate them.
Islam equals war upon unbelievers and recognizing that fact will help us win.