[a_Turk]

Too bad then that so many wars have had religion as the focus.

Religion is just another tool that can be used in some circumstances to rally certain segments.. If it's ok to trick the enemy then why not also manipulate your own forces? That by the way was done by any list of leaders "practicing" any variety of religions.

So, on what basis does the Muslim world pick its enemies?

That question shows that you prefer to stereotype. It is ambiguous and therefore cannot be answered as "simply" as it's asked. Or perhaps I could answer it by just saying that the Muslim "world" does not pick enemies, since it does not exist. You must restate your question with specific interest groups in mind (e.g. How does Saddam pick his enemies, or how does Bin Laden pick his enemies).. Do you have time?

[Cachelot]

Religion is just another tool that can be used in some circumstances to rally certain segments

Indeed. Especially religions that lend themselves readily to it.

That question shows that you prefer to stereotype. It is ambiguous and therefore cannot be answered as "simply" as it's asked

Nonsense. Even the Muslims themselves use a term for the "Muslim world", so don't feed me the line that there is no such thing. In fact, your answer is the ambigius thing - just as "mainstream" muslims (you know, the peaceful ones) always come off ambigious when asked what they think about the more unsavoury Islamist lines. Like Islamic expansionism, antisemitism, terrorism, suicides, and stuff like that. "We condemn/do not condemn/ whatever -- BUT!"

Now, of course Islam defines a segment of the world. It imparts certain characteristics on its adherents. I would say (but you'd obviously not agree) that it is at bottom a warrior culture, and always has been, and that it is violently expansionist. And that if you see a variation from the warrior/expansionist plank, it's so much changed that it's not Islam as we know it. Never mind your list of a handful of innocous things that make you a Muslim, there's much more to Islam than that.

Actually, your interpretation of Islam would be likely to earn you a death sentence in the more intolerant Muslim countries, which btw holds most of the Muslim population.