Jihad Means Striving, Not Holy War
Often times, Western media validate much of the extremist rhetoric from the Middle East with Islamic terminology. Holy war actually originated with European crusaders in the 11th century, while jihad was explained in the Quran in 7th Century Arabia as meaning striving or struggling. Do Muslim extremists invoke Islam in their violent outbursts? Absolutely. We should not honor this dishonorable demand. Then we can effectively speak directly to the mainstream Muslims who hold moderate views and speak out against terrorism as a vehicle for change.
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That Jihad means struggle and not war is just good spin. Hitler was also good at spin. Some books have caused a lot of human suffering before antidotes for the "idea viruses" they contained were understood. Some of the worst are:
1) The Communist Manifesto
2) Mein Kampf
3) The Quran
The Crusades, though in execution nothing for Christians to be proud of, were an effort to reply to the violent conquest of Christian occupied land by the Muslim armies from the East.