Ultimately, there is no compromise. Westerners will either retain their civilization, including the right to insult and blaspheme, or not.

To me, every fundamentalist Muslim, no matter how peaceable in his own behavior, is part of a murderous movement and is thus, in some fashion, a foot soldier in the war that bin Laden has launched against civilization.

Israelis must be encouraged to defeat the Palestinians.

Any Westerner can now buy a Koran for a dollar and burn it, while any Muslim with a platform can transform that act into a fighting offense. As passions rise on both sides of the divide, Western provocateurs and Islamist hotheads have found each other, as confrontations occur with increasing frequency.

You can't just read the Koran to understand Muslim life. You have to look at history, at personalities, at economics, and so on.

All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most.

In the long term, the United States could greatly benefit Islam by uniquely freeing the religion from government constraints and permitting it to evolve in a positive, modern direction. But that's the long term.