If mainstream Islam is responsible for al-Qaeda, then evangelical Christianity spawned the Ku Klux Klan.
Bush is not "placating" anybody. He recognized Judaism last Saturday at the beginning of Hannukah.
Bush is President of the United States: lots of different people and different religions. Just because you don't approve of one of them (hell, you may disapprove of more than one for all I know), doesn't mean that Bush should take your "us-vs-them" position.
In fact, it is a mark of his maturity that he doesn't.
I keep hearing this term, as if it is a significant distinction from its more "zealous" counterpart. Could you elaborate on the tenets of "mainstream" Islam that separate it from the more murderous factions? I'm dying to understand my Muhammadist brethren.