Fight the people?

A Maltreated Hadith translated from Muhammad Al-Ghazali's (may Allah have mercy on him) Al-'Ilal wal-Adaweyyah by Umm Majeed* - The Translators

The Translators (in this case, Umm Majeed) give a correct understanding of the Hadeeth, "I was commanded to fight the people until they proclaim that there is no deity worthy of worship except God alone, if they accept this faith then their lives and wealth will be secure except with due process of law", commonly cited by both Muslim extremists and Islam-haters as proof that Islam enjoins us to "fight the people" here and now. In fact, it referred to the Arab polytheists "were resentfully unwilling to let Islam exist and violated every peace treaty and covenant they agreed to". There are different verses, as the sister explains, covering the People of the Book.