With so much at stake & everything going on in the world...

A couple of issues here. It wasn't just 'any book'. As an atheist and somebody who has had the luck to be born and grow up in a comfortanble affluent environment; to me it is just a book but to many people living in more poverty stricken countries their religion is all they have. I suppose much akin to the less affluent parts of the US being more openly and devoutly christian or evangelical.

They are also less educated and more susceptible to hear-say, which brings me on to my second point; the media will only report the crowds of people burning American flags or chanting about death and jihad - this is all that your western eyes see. Much like a lot of all they see and are told is Western Jets and soldiers invading muslim countries. They may percieve it as an attack on their religion.

Nobody is denying that many many many attrocities have been committed in the name of Islam over the past decade but you must try to see a bigger picture or risk being as ignorant as those extremists are, and do not pretend that none have been made by the West at any point in history because you will find yourself sorely mistaken. They likely see the US as a Christian force attempting to oppress or exterminate them just as much as you think all Islam is an evil plot that does not deserve a place on the planet.