Bro Patrick,
jihad is only ever fought physically for defensive purposes - not offensive ones.
Secondly, the greater Jihad - in context - is the struggle one takes upon him/her self to perfect oneself.
So usually, whenever a Muslim mentions jihad, it is in reference to the personal struggle of the "self", not defensive struggle against an invader or oppressor.
On that note, for the defensive jihad to be justified, it has to meet certain criteria - and only a leader of Muslim nations can make this demand (for Muslims to gather and form a defensive army to fight off the invaders)
These understandings are usually overlooked by non Muslims because they only ever see the word jihad used in the media in a whack context. The reality is quite different.
Hope this helps,
Scimi