Well technically medieval Islam was a lot more progressive than what these fundie groups are pushing in modern times.
I don't think the answer is to bomb the shite out of Iraq. We screwed up the first time, with this whole plan of transitioning authority to their local police force, such as it was, when we were really just looking for excuses to tick some kind of success box on a mission report, with no bearing on the reality of the stability of the situation. I don't see how throwing bombs at the problem is going to make anything better. It'll just breed more hatred, waste money and resources, and leave a wasteland behind which would be even harder to grow into a pleasant/peaceful society.