re: I don't take any "comfort" in this at all.
Too many radicals see our tolerance as a weak spot. Like the insurgent who was passed through a checkpoint when he told an American soldier he was rushing to a hospital. His assessment? We're "stupid."
You'll never win their hearts that way. If you shoot first, that is definite sign of fear.
One way or another there must be a dialogue.
This has always happened in the past. It will also happen in Iraq but only if neither side feels a humiliation or is afraid of the other.