Mike,
Yep - they are being stupid.
They are (and have been) doing exactly what we have been doing. We have idiots in this country saying the we need to nuke the whole area/kill all the Muslims, and so on - and we have the power to do so. They have idiots in their country who want to kill the foreigner who 'insulted' them - and they have the power to do so.
Just because you might have the power to do something does not always mean that you should do it.
Personally, I would rather those idiots in our country and the idiots in their country move to the moon and play their stupid little games over whose god has the bigger Samson.
Steve