[Austin Willard Wright]

I am also pessismistic. There are no good answers. I do know one thing: Islam can only be changed from below through a cultural revolution. This could take hundreds of years. I also suspect that the rise of a unified Islam under a caliph is far more likely if we remain in the Middle East, than if we get out, after killing Bin Laden. Without a U.S. devil to focus on, the various Islamic groups are far more likely to continue with their fracturus ways.

[Restorer]

I do know one thing: Islam can only be changed from below through a cultural revolution. This could take hundreds of years.

Agreed. The possible alternatives are extermination or permanent subjugation, both of which would entail changing the US permanently into a very different type of nation.

I also suspect that the rise of a unified Islam under a caliph is far more likely if we remain in the Middle East, than if we get out, after killing Bin Laden. Without a U.S. devil to focus on, the various Islamic groups are far more likely to continue with their fracturus ways.

Agreed again. The problem is that if we pulled out of the Middle East, the economies of Europe and America would collapse. We are just too dependent on their oil, at present. And nobody is (yet) willing to do what would be necessary to break that dependence.