Salim Mansur on "The myth of the 'moderate' Muslim"

This is typical of the point of view of sites such as Jihad Watch, which is where I learned of this essay. The idea seems to run counter to the views of writers such as Daniel Pipes. See, for instance, Pipes' essay "The Evil isn't Islam," (which does not save him from being vilified by the likes of CAIR.) Here is an excerpt:

The truth is there does not exist an identifiable body of Muslims, substantive in number or an outright majority, who could be described as "moderate" by their repudiation of Muslim extremists.

Violence has been an integral part of Muslim history, irrespective of whether it is sanctioned by Islam, and Muslims who unhesitatingly use violence to advance their political ambitions have created a climate within their faith-culture that any Muslim who questions such practice is then deemed apostate and subject to harm.

Consequently, what might pass for "moderate" Muslims, the large number of Muslims unaccounted for as to what they think, in practical terms constitute a forest within which extremists are incubated, nurtured, given ideological and material support, and to which they return for sanctuary.

I don't endorse either view, and for that matter I wouldn't even describe myself as knowledgeable about Islam, but this is a fascinating and important debate.