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One of many passages in the Holy Qu'ran:

Surah II, 190-193

190. Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits, for God loveth not transgressors.

191. And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter. But fight them not at the Sacred Mosque [Mecca] unless they first fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith.

192. But if they cease, God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.

193. And fight them on until there is no more tumult and oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God. But if they cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression.

A superficial reading this would be interpreted as a justification for the insurgents to go after the hated infidel Americans. Below is an interpretation of jihad, according to religious scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali (notes 1270 and 1271 of Surah IX:20) :

1270. Here is a good description of Jihad. It may require fighting in God's cause, as a form of self-sacrifice. But its essence consists in (1) a true and sincere Faith, which so fixes its gaze on God, that all selfish or worldly motives seem paltry and fade away, and (2) an earnest and ceaseless activity, involving the sacrifice (if need be) of life, person and property, in the service of God. Mere brutal fighting is opposed to the whole spirit of jihad, while the sincere scholar's pen or preacher's voice or wealthy man's contributions may be the most valuable forms of Jihad. (Emphasis added.)

1271. Those who strive and suffer in God's cause are promised (1) a mercy specially from Himself, (2) His own good pleasure, (3) gardens of perpetual delight (4) the supreme reward, God's own presence or nearness. These are, in gradation: (1) is a special mercy, higher than flows out to all creatures; (2) is a consciouscness of God's good pleasure, which raises the soul above itself; (3) is that state of permanent physical assurance, which is typified by gardens of perpetual delight, and (4) is the final bliss, which is the presence of God Himself, or, in Sufi language didar-i-Ilahi, the sight of God Himself.