Mideast expert shares view of terrorism, Islam

This is indeed good news! Expert says that a mere 130 million believers in Islam side with the fundamentalists and anti-Westerners.

America needs to know who it's fighting in its war on terror, Mideast expert Jonathan Schanzer said in a speech Sunday at the Pensacola Cultural Center.

Schanzer, who spoke to about 70 people for the Pensacola Jewish Federation's Distinguished Speaker Series, said that ideas of battling Islam are mistaken.

All 19 hijackers of the September 11 terrorist attacks were Muslims, and so are all 19 of the FBI's most wanted terrorists. But with 1.3 billion Muslims estimated worldwide, there is only a small, but growing faction of what he calls "Militant Islam" spreading an "epidemic" of terror.

"This is the most confusing war America has gotten into. When you say you're fighting terrorism, you're fighting a tactic. It's like fighting against trench warfare. We don't exactly say who it is we're fighting," Schanzer said. "Islam is many things - just like Christianity. This small offshoot of 10 to 15 percent is making the most noise."

He estimates 130 million people share the views of Militant Islam, spouting a bitter hatred for Western ideas, including capitalism, individualism and consumerism. It has strongholds in Algeria, Egypt, Somalia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan.

The terror groups spawned by Militant Islam include al-Qaida, an umbrella group for 27 other groups, orchestrating operations of Islamic militants around the globe.