People, in general, have only very vague idea of what rest of the world is like. In this case, this leads to incredible number of misconceptions about eastern religious traditions in general, and Buddhism in particular.

Anyone who thinks that Buddhism makes people somehow incapable of violence should look up history of Indochinese peninsula. Despite the fact it's one of the most Buddhist areas in the world, local kingdoms had no problem fighting each other, just like those in Europe or anywhere else.