Do we bring his religion into what was a politically motivated act of violence? Interestingly, the entire problem with the IRA disappeared when the British troops left Ireland. Funny how that works.
You are moving into the area of false equivocation and that's dangerous, because it kills any rational argument you might have. If we follow that stream of thought, then the Americans had every right to bomb and kill or enslave everyone in the 19th century, when American sailors were enslaved by Jihadist north-Africans. Didn't happen!
Do we use the same measurement for the terrorist attacks by Polish/Jewish Holocaust-survivors on German soil, post-WWII?
Oh wait! No such thing happened! By your logic, it would have been not only "normal", but also perfectly justified.
What about Indian suicide-bombers on UK soil post-Indian emancipation? AGAIN! NO SUCH THING HAPPENED!
What if it's a sign of Polish/Jewish/Indian MORAL superiority versus their oppressors?
Surely, they follow different ideologies/religions and the political context was COMPLETELY different for all the examples.
If we look at the history of the "clash of civilizations", in the context of centuries, then the simplistic view that the Muslims are the Eternal Victims gets a bit clearer and it's perfectly clear to see, that unlike in the Islamic world, the "Evil White Man" doesn't hide his crimes.
The other aspect of the problem in your argument is, that even in times of ideological, absolute fascism (where the religious leaders and royals sang the same tune, that of superiority and entitlement), "the answer" was less worse than the initial problem.
Why do we speak of the re-conquest of the Iberic peninsula (including Andalusia) as a bad thing, yet do not look at the invasion and destruction of North African and Spanish culture DURING the Jihadist Crusades that happened centuries earlier?
If you think the problems we are facing today are strictly political, then you'd have to deny the reports of the millions of Iranians who supposedly saw the Moon standing still in the western parts of the sky, right when Ayatollah Khomeini came back to Iran. When we look at the pictures of people/universities pre- and post-1979, no matter if in Egypt, Algeria or Iran, do we not see something changed?
Uniformity is only seen in the political context (Catholic Fascism in 30s Europe, Communist Eastern Europe post WWII), but Islam is not only a political doctrine or even dogma, it's first and foremost, a fascist, divinity-based ideology.
So we can forget about the history of Europe/Near East/Northern Africa and let America move all it's troops back home, but then we will forget, that those states the radical Islam is coming from these days didn't need the USA to "sing the same tune" for over 1000 years.
The pseudo-colonialist role of US military around the world is a sign of a dying empire and not the excuse for Jihadism, which existed centuries before Columbus set a foot on American soil.
Religious fascism is schizophrenic; on one side, you have to be David and a victim, on the other hand feel like Goliath, because you claim to be ideologically and morally superior.
Again, Western "Imperialsm" didn't turn Islamic states into the shitholes they are today; it just gives the Islamists a new excuse to blame it all on someone else and not their delusional ideology.
Topic: Beheading in Woolwich