Islam Readings

This articles discuss the ideas of jihaad.  After the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, that word was throw around a lot in everyday conversation.  As a sixth grader, I could only go off of short, crude explanations of what a jihaad was: a suicide that involved political/social/religious/moral reasons and if successful, the person would go to heaven because of their brave actions.  This article describes something a little different.  Saying that a jihaad is a "defensive war" that has nothing to do with modern day warfare, the main idea behind jihaad type actions is heavily associated with freedom.  There are several reasons the readings give for performing a jihaad: "to establish God's authority in the earth, to arrange human affairs according to the true guidance provided by God, to abolish all the Satanic forces and Satanic systems of life, to end the lordship of one man over others" (138).  I'm sure the attackers and planners involved in 9/11 could easily say that some if not all of these reasons were involved in their actions.  But maybe I'm misunderstanding the readings.  The point of a jihaad is to fight for freedom.  If this fight involves the mass murder of innocent people that are not in the military and are not directly involved in the oppression, then how can we justify their killings?  It's quite possible that I'm looking through Islamic glass with American eyes, but I'm failing to understand the extent of their actions in association with the readings.  What freedom came about after the "jihaad of 9/11"?  I would argue none; if anything, more oppression came in the aftermath of 9/11.  To me, jihaad seems to be a more sacred and values task than those performs on September 11th (and I have to say that my middle school explanation of jihaad makes more sense in this situation that Qutb's definition).  I do not think that jihaad is an acceptable, reasonable and logical explanation for what happened a few years ago.  By putting aside this silly excuse, we might be able to recognize that this has nothing to do with Islamic and Christian differences.  Being scared of Muslims on the streets because some newspaper claimed that 9/11 was a massive jihaad is nonsensical.  It all seems ridiculous, but then again, I'm just an American trying to figure out the Muslim world.