I guess it depends on how you define "innocents" doesn't it? Not to get Clinton-esque on you, but once you accept the idea of "collateral damage" and that it's necessary to further your cause, if it's not wanting to kill innocents it's a very close cousin. You can make the "it's necessary" argument...and so will they. Regardless, I don't think the 10% was a hard statistic, just an example, an off the cuff statement.
You're right on some of the issue, don't get me wrong. I just think the focus on what the issue is and how to fix it is off. If you sincerely promote universal human rights such as free speech, access to education, equal rights for women and minorities, etc. and you set up a system with the rule of law, the rest will fall into place over time. It takes time to learn democracy, how to overcome tribal issues, etc. Surely you don't think the US got it right immediately and without mistakes? We founded a democracy that allowed the ownership of other people and plenty of people who weren't represented, which led to quite a bit of strife, after all. We got there, though. We've got a good system here, and again someone ironically Muslims here can easily have more freedom of religion and economic opportunity than you'd find in some Muslim-majority countries. Promoting those values gets us where we want to be, and people DO listen and DO learn. It's just tough to sincerely promote universal human rights while also propping up dictators or pulling down democratically elected governments when it suits you.
No ass kissing, thanks. The bigfoot in a denim hat ear target was gift enough for me.
I always thought that this was where GWB sincerely believed he was going with Iraq - didn't work out