War Strategies: The Crusades and the War on Terror

As the story goes, about 950 years ago the Christian Church began a mission to eradicate the world of non-Christians: the Crusades. The story, however, often neglects to mention (or we prefer not to listen) the strategic motivations of the Crusaders. Not only were they fighting for their religion, but they were fighting to keep their land and preserve their way of life. Islam was quickly spreading through Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and northern Africa, thus encroaching into Christian territories.
From this map you can see how Islam began to encroach into Christian Europe via the Iberian peninsula (Spain) and Asia Minor. Church leaders knew that if Islam spread into their territories, priests and bishops would have to vie for power against mullahs and mujtahids. This would not do and so Church leaders devised a plan to prevent it. Once Constantinople was "attacked" the Church's fear of losing it's land, power, and way of life reached a decisive point. They were so gripped by the fear of a deluge of Muslims and a mass conversion of Europeans that something drastic had to be done.

Ultimately, leaders of the Holy Roman Empire decided that defensive tactics were not enough. They had to show potent uses of force in order to succeed. One city stood out as the best option for places to wage war: Jerusalem. It was a Christian holy city because of Jesus, but it was also a Muslim holy city because of Mohammed. If the Christians launched a war against the Muslims in Jerusalem, then they would have to draw forces from across Islamic territories. The fight for Jerusalem was on and the plan to save Christian Europe had succeeded - Muslims in Europe proceeded no further and later were removed from Spain via the Spanish Inquisition.

What interests me about these events is their striking similarities to the modern War on Terror. The strategy is basically the same. Afghanistan's and Iraq's locations in the Islamic world make them great places to "take the fight to them." Both countries border Iran. Along with that, we have a military ally in Pakistan and an economic partner in Saudi Arabia.
The fragmentation of Islamic central Asia is impossible to overlook. The States claim that they are not planning an attack on Iran, but what do you suppose the Iranians think? If you have any knowledge of the Bay of Pigs invasion, then you're fully aware of how the Iranians might feel. No wonder they want nuclear weapons.