This
piece stands on its own. I have recently been a champion of
encouraging the Sunni and Shiia to fight. This is a good reason that I
didn't know about.
Foreign Affairs
Why U.S. Should Steer Clear As Shiite, Sunni Rift Evolves
Rising tension and outright violence between Islam's Shiite and Sunni sects have weakened al Qaeda's appeal and ended one of its founding missions -- to unite the Islamic world against the West -- writes Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria. With this in mind, the U.S. should avoid taking sides as the rupture grows.
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri founded al Qaeda
in the 1980s as a pan-Islamic organization. To that effect Mr. bin
Laden initially resisted sanctioning violence against the Shiite
minority in Afghanistan during the war against the Russians. Similarly,
after the invasion of Iraq, Mr. Zawahiri reproached al Qaeda's head
there, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for attacking Iraq's Shiites.
Nevertheless, Mr. Zarqawi's approach has won out.
Al-Qaeda's anti-Shiite message has boosted its appeal among a Sunni
minority disenfranchised by the fall of Saddam Hussein. However, while
the anti-Shiite stance might boost al Qaeda's appeal in "Iraq,
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and some parts of the gulf," Mr. Zakaria says it
means that everywhere else al Qaeda has lost its original appeal as a
uniter of Muslims against a common, powerful enemy.
While al Qaeda finds itself dragged into an internal battle between Muslims, the U.S. should stay out of it, Mr. Zakaria says. This way it can ensure that what is a war between sects evolves into a war of ideas. "Islam must make space for differing views about what makes a good Muslim," says Mr. Zakaria. "Then it will be able to take the next step and accept the diversity among religions, each true in its own way."