Japan wasn't faced with overwhelming odds, they lost a war they started. Also, Native Americans did not resort to suicide attacks, that was against their sense of humanity. The point was to be alive and free, not dead and free. You also have to look at the way in which this practice has manifested itself among modern terrorists. They kill innocent people along with themselves in the vast majority of cases. Comparing that to Japanese suicide attacks on U.S. naval battleships is a little misguided in my opinion.
I believe this problem is one of both religious and political origins. Many groups who have a political agenda use religion to brainwash and justify their mindless acts of carnage. This isn't about Islam as a whole, but an issue of radical groups with extremist ideologies who use religion for their own ends. Sadly, I believe many Muslims buy into this. Any attack on these groups is an "attack on Islam", a "war on Islam". Which is of course exactly what these groups want their "fellow" Muslims to believe. As evidenced by many posts made in this forum, that strategy is working beautifully.