One wonders what the message is in the lack of an overwhelming rejection of bin laden's philosphy by these same 'moderates'?

It's not a perversion of Islam that is the problem. It's Islam, the Qu'ran and evil life of Muhammand:

Islamic countries:

SEVEN OUT OF TEN of the least-free countries in the world have Islamic majorities. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Turkmenistan join Burma, Cuba, and North Korea in the dubious distinction of achieving the lowest possible ratings in the latest global survey of political rights and civil liberties put out by Freedom House. Not a single one of the 16 majority Arab countries is truly democratic or free.

. The latest report notes that in the past five years over 1 million Christians have fled Moslem countries.

In Saudi Arabia, a dozen Christians are in jail for practicing their faith. The State Department matter-of-factly comments, "Freedom of religion does not exist in Saudi Arabia."

When Nigerian Moslems took to the streets to celebrate Sept. 11, 300 to 400 Christians died in one day alone. In May 2000, 200 were killed in the city of Kaduna, including Father Clement Ozi Bello (a Moslem convert to Catholicism), who was dragged from his car, blinded and slain. "Our people are being shot, butchered and roasted," pleads Kaduna Bishop Josiah Fearon.

In Pakistan, a number of Christians languish on death row for violating Section 295 (c) of the nation's penal code, which makes blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed a capital crime. On Oct. 28, in Bahawalpur, the Army of Omar related to Protestant churchgoers with automatic weapons, killing 16.

In Indonesia, the world's largest Moslem country, the Laskar Jihad has expanded its ethnic cleansing of Christians from Maluku (where 9,000 have died since 1999) to the neighboring province of Sulawesi. According to International Christian Concern, between Nov. 26 and Nov. 29 , 600 homes and six churches were destroyed.

Muhammand:

Muhammad lived a less than holy life. His lust for sex, his affairs with his maids and slave girls, his pedophilic relationship with Aisha a 9-year-old child at the age of 53, his killing sprees, his massacre and the genocide of the Jews, his slave making and trading, his assassination of his opponents, his raids and lootings of the merchant caravans, his burning of the palm plantations, his destroying the water wells, his cursing and invoking evil on his enemies and his revenge on his captured prisoners of war disqualify him as a decent human being let alone the messenger of God

The second incident involves another one of Muhammad's requests: this one for his men to murder an old 120-year-old Jewish man named Abu Afak. Abu Afak had urged his fellow Medinans to question Muhammad. Abu Afak was no physical threat to Muhammad, it was just an outright murder of another one of Muhammad's critics.

The fifth incident involves a man named Amr Umayya, who was sent out by Muhammad to murder Muhammad's enemy Abu Sufyan. However, their assassination attempt failed. As he returned home, he met a one-eyed shepherd. Prior to going asleep, the shepherd said that he would never become a Muslim. Umayya waited for the shepherd to fall asleep, and "as soon as the badu was asleep and snoring I got up and killed him in a more horrible way than any man has been killed. I put the end of my bow in his sound eye, then I bore down on it until I forced it out at the back of his neck." Umayya returned and spoke with Muhammad. He relates..."He [Muhammad] asked my news and when I told him what had happened he blessed me".

The sixth incident involves the actions of Muslims who were sent out by Muhammad on a raid against the Fazara tribe. The Fazara initially defeated the Muslims. The wounded Muslim leader swore vengeance. After he recovered he went out and attacked the Fazara again. One very old woman was captured. “…and Umm Quirfa Fatima was taken prisoner. She was a very old woman, and he killed her cruelly (Tabari, by putting a rope to her two legs and to two camels and driving them until they rent her in two.) Muhammad's companions went out and attacked people, took some prisoners, then committed some brutal atrocities against their captives. These men were so destitute of basic human values, that they ripped old women in half by using camels!

Verses from the Qu'ran

O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he among you that turns to them for friendship is of them. 5:51

Of the Jews: ‘When in their insolence they transgressed all prohibitions, We said to them: "Be you apes, despised and rejected."’ 7:166

From those too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the Message that was sent to them: so We estranged them, with enmity and hatred between one and the other, to the Day of Judgment. And soon will Allah show them what they have done. 5:14

Of the Unbelievers: "seize them and slay them wherever you find them: and in any case take no friends or helpers from their ranks." 4:89

Remember your Lord inspired the angels with the message: "I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instill terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: you smite them above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them." 8:12

Therefore, when you meet the Unbelievers in fight, smite at their necks; at length, when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly on them… He lets you fight in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the way of Allah, - He will never let their deeds be lost. 47:4

Quran tells Muslims to kill the disbelievers wherever they find them (Q. 2:191), to murder them and treat them harshly (Q. 9:123), slay them (Q. 9: 5), fight with them.

Ping

The moderates? ALL five off them?

The time for Islamic moderates to speak up passed long ago.

Sadly, it appears that few rose to the occasion.