I'm Muslim. Of Course I Support Jihad.

I just had an email discussion with a Muslim who blogs. He seemed like a moderate muslim that I've heard so much about and have been dying to strike up a conversation with. He said his mosque preaches pacifism, and implied that he was against terrorism. But then he said:

"I'm Muslim. Of course I support jihad. What I don't support is killing innocent people."

I ended the discussion quickly at that point because I want nothing to do with the type of person that thinks there is such a thing as a 'holy' war for any reason, at any time. Being against the killing of innocents is meaningless since people's innocence can disappear in a single day in the eyes of Islam. We saw it happen with the Danes in the cartoon jihad, we saw it happen to Salmon Rushdie, and now even to the Pope.

But what if my original assessment was correct and he actually is a moderate muslim? Do most moderate muslims support jihad? If so, are we at war with Islamofascist extremists, or the whole of Islam itself? I thought it was just the former, but something about "I'm Muslim. Of course I support jihad" makes me believe the problem is larger than previously thought.

This does not bode well. I know there are muslims who want to live in peace such as the great people at Iraq the Model. I just find it strange that there appear to be so few of them.