Beg to differ, but the Japanese were pretty damn fanatical. The "Rape of Nanking", the kamikazes, and hundreds of our soldiers who were summarily beheaded after capture were almost unprecedented in the level of cruelty the Japanese army displayed -- heck, the Japanese government envisioned sending every man, woman, and child into battle if it came to that. The firebombing of Tokyo cured the civilian population of any fanaticism they had. We haven't come close to approaching the amount of death and destruction we inflicted (rightfully) on the Japanese in terms of the current conflict.
But you are right - there is neither skill nor civilization in the Middle East....
I'm not claiming they weren't fanatics. (The guys at the Alamo were fanatics, too). Just that they had built a civilization. They had steel mills and designed torpedoes and massive battleships. The Muddled East gets paid for oil they do not even extract themselves to buy junker aircraft that they cannot fly against us. As a foe or a friend, I'll take the Japanese over these Islamidiots any day.