Until jihadis started killing other Moslems in large numbers rather than just occasional info-tainment attacks on distant Westerners, the concept of jihad wasn't too disturbing to the majority of Moslems. The War on Terror has changed that, bringing home the price of tolerating jihadis in their midst all these years.
In the end, Moslems need our help to control the jihadis and eliminate the fertile ground that breeds them:
Not surprisingly, Moslems get motivated to do something about Islamic radicalism when the violence comes to their neighborhoods. That's why terror attacks in the West are so popular. The infidels are being attacked, without any risk to those living in Moslem countries. Iraq changed all that, and during the course of that war (2004-7) the popularity of Islamic terrorism, in Moslem countries, declined sharply because the terrorists were killing so many Moslems. That, in the end, is what has killed, for a while, most Islamic terrorism in Iraq. But this time around, it would be nice if the Moslem world got their act together and expunged this malevolent tendency once and for all.
Those Moslems who would resist the killer Islamists have not been strong enough on their own to resist the tide of Islamist ideology and threats to conform or look away as the jihadis killed us. These Moslems who are not killers and would prefer to build their own lives, but who are naturally afraid of the killers in their neighborhoods watching and judging them, will stand up to the killers if we help them.
It was once called the Long War for a reason. That term may be out of fashion, but it remains a true description of the task ahead of us.
