An interesting contrast

Diana West has a very interesting article over at Townhall.com called "Roars about Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam." It makes the point that, whereas we in the West seem to understand intuitively that imperial expansion such as in happening in Georgia these days is something that is simply part of the historic culture of Russia, we neglect to draw the same conclusion about Islamic culture. I wonder why? Is Islam any less prone to expand by the edge of the sword or the roar of the tank than the Russian Empire? Not if you are a student of Islamic history. So why the reticence to identify Islam's expansion by that means as what it is, a central and characteristic feature of that culture, not a "hijacking" of a "great religion" by so-called "extremists"? Are we so concerned about political correctness that we dare not call religiously inspired violence by its correct name, Islamic jihad? What are we gaining by this dishonesty other than self-delusion?