I wasn't insulting an opposing viewpoint - if one has taken a serious look at the different branches, as you have , and would like to argue that Islam is incompatible with other religions/peaceful society, then fine. I will disagree, and will gladly debate the points, but I will respect your position.
When I talked about "xenophobic right-wingers," and about how I don't like sharing the label "conservative" with such people, I wasn't talking about people who have considered the issue thoughtfully, I was talking about the bumper-sticker types, whose analysis of Islam is limited to one-liners demonstrating no thought or insight about the issues.
Regarding your argument about Sunnis and Shiites in the US, rather than the Sufism you encountered in Uzbekistan, I think it's a fair point...to an extent. I would point out that even within Sunni and Shiite Islam, there are different branches, some of which are more permissive than others (and most of which are nowhere near as extreme as the Wahabbi sect of Sunni Islam).
So, while some of the "moderation" found in Muslims may be a "When in Rome..." type of thing (and what's so wrong about that, anyway? isn't assimilation a good thing?), I'm not so sure that it's not compatible with Islam itself - under various schools of Islamic thought, it may very well be entirely possible to be a good Muslim and a good American at the same time.
"under various schools of Islamic thought"
That's fine as it goes, but it's anything but a level playing field for all branches of Islam, either in the Middle East, Western Europe, or the United States. "Them what has the gold makes the rules", and it's petrodollar fueled Wahhabism that dominates the madrassas here or anywhere else.
Wouldn't we all love to see schools of Sufi mysticism (headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan) flourishing here? It's said Sufi Muslims in those institutes welcome guest speakers of other faiths. But that's not the reality here.
"When in Rome..." Mohammed Atta and the other 9/11 mass murderers were frequenting strip clubs and consuming alcohol before committing their dastardly acts.
Anyway, doesn't any Muslim, regardless of degree of religiosity, have to reckon with the possibility of being watched by the fanatical faithful?
The question of whether a `moderate Muslim' is one who merely fails to adhere to _the currently enforced definition_ of what a Muslim should be, has IMHO not yet been addressed on this thread.