Um..Christians and Jews are not considered "infidels" in the Quoran, but are considered "brothers of the book" in that they believe in (some) of the same prophets and the same God. It is the interpretation of the Quoran that makes for the problem since true believers insist that the words cannot be translated from the original Arabic without losing some of their meaning.
www.islam101.com/religions/infidels.htm
For example: There is a debate as to whether Muslim women must wear a veil in public. Some scholars say the words refer to a "belt" or "sash" rather than a veil. Even the scholars cannot agree on the meaning of many passages. Such can be said about other Holy Books as well such as the OT and the NT.
Many of the words used in the Quoran are from other languages of the time and locale, making understanding even more difficult. The word used to describe "virgins" can, in another language of the time and area, be used to describe "white grapes". Some of the terrorists may be a bit disappointed.
So, the problem is that intellectuals in the Islamic world have been, over the years, outshouted by the fundamentalists and not much progress has been made to bring Islam into the modern world. With such a dichotomy of civilization and beliefs, it is not difficult to understand why there is such a "clash of cultures". Add to that a history of European domination over the centuries and it becomes a clearly difficult and complex problem, not easily or quickly resolved. The primary problem with our involvement is ignorance of the culture and now an urgent need to "catch up".
Ain't gonna be easy. As Colin Powell said to Bush senior re: the first gulf war and whether we should go into Bagdhad: If you break it, you own it.
If any writer can make the writings general enough, those writings are open to interpretation, which leds to misunderstanding.