"However, in a free and fair society, we must not allow scaremongerers to rule the day."

I agree entirely with that statement, the problem is that it is oxymoronic. In a free and fair society, any group representing the majority should, by definition, rule the day (unfortunately).

So for the scaremongerers to lose their vice-like grip on western societies, someone needs to prove them wrong. Which group of people out there is best placed to condemn the actions of muslim extremists, since the muslims themselves seem so very reluctant to condemn suicide bombers, honor killings, the taliban, al qaeda, female genital mutilation, polygamy, the burka, and all those other things that western culture find troubling.