2006 has seen a positive shift in Bush's rhetoric regarding the threat that faces the US. At least GW now is using the term "radical Islam" instead of simply "terrorism." But he still speaks of a small minority having hijacked a "noble faith."
Give me a break. Muhammad and his early followers used military force to unify Arabia which then after his death went on one of the great military expansions of history into the Middle East, across North Africa and the Iberian Penninsula, eastward through Persia and eventually through India, northeastward into Central Asia, and finally with the Turks up through the Balkans and into Eastern Europe.
Religion of Peace? Yes, but remember that the one speaking gets to define the words used. (Always ask, what do you mean by that?) In Islam "peace" is the condition brought into being through submission to Allah. And, Islam aims to bring peace (submission) whether you want it or not. "Peace" in "Religion of Peace" does not mean what an American might first assume.
I am curious as to whether GW believes in his rhetoric at this point, or, if he thinks it politically expedient, or, of he thinks he can help modernize Islam by redefining it.