[nightdriver]

"Nowhere in the Koran, Islam's holy book, these leaders say, is there any justification for the pageantry of terror that plays out in headlines nearly every day."

Suuuuuure, Abdul.

Like "Slay the unbelievers wherever you find them." - Sura 9:5, or "..and kill them (infidels) wherever you find them."

Nowhere in the koran, huh? Riiiight!

[Gideon7]

Sura 2:191 commands Muslims, "Slay them [infidels] wherever you catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out, for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter."

Sura 8:39 commands Muslims, "Make war on them [infidels] until idolatry shall cease and God's religion shall reign supreme."

Sura 9:5 commands Muslims, "Fight and slay pagans wherever you find them; and sieze them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every strategem [of war]."

Sura 9:29 commands Muslims, "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

For various reasons many English translators of the Koran often strive to downplay or whitewash the rhetoric. For a good literal translation of the Koran see Hoque's Translation and Commentary on The Holy Quran,

See also Ibn Warraq's What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text and Commentary.