You may have me there on the second point. Though, the mongols are pretty much viewed as being rather bloodthirsty these days. I believe in the middle east, they are seen as being as bad as we see the Nazis.

I do think that portrays Nazis as being somehow inhuman monsters to distance ourselves from them is incorrect, but then again, I don't see how one could compare Alexander the Great, an enlightened ruler who respected the culture of the people he conquered, to a man who set out to wipe out the Jews and Slavs.