The present terrorists are not, strictly speaking, Muslims. They are derived from a sect called the Assassins originally formed almost 1000 years ago by Hassan-i-Sabah. (They don't believe in Muhammed so much as his incarnation as he appears in each generation personified i.e. Bin Laden, etc.) They're real goal is to infiltrate a society, create Jihad by pitting factions of that society against each other, and then take over in the aftermath. Jihad is achieved not just through terror, or by assassinating a head of state, but by continually picking at particular controversial and sore points in a society. Another way Jihad is created is through the manipulation of a particularly important commodity such as oil. A thousand years ago it was spices (to preserve food) and paper (for printing books) driving Europe into the Dark Ages through starvation and ignorance. By creating this sort of Jihad in that society, it will take itself apart without them ever having to go to war. In other words, they assassinate the head of state through the creation of fanaticism and conspiracy theories, etc. aimed at particularly vulnerable and gullible segments (right and left) of that society dividing it through controversy and doubt. Judging from the heatedness of this discussion, their tactics are working quite well here.
