Shia and Sunni are allied and fight in the same cause even as they slaughter each other on the ground. Iran supports ISISin Lybia and Boko Haram in Nigeria even as Persian aircraft bomb ISIS in Iraq. But when the Infidels are all dead or converted the Sects of Islam will fall upon each other with a zealousness bounded only by the limits of resources necessary for Jihad to continue. In an Islamic world the Shia and Sunni will divide all up in the areas they can defend and the smaller sects will be pushed into enclaves in inaccessible places. And there are actually more than just two sects. There are Alawites, allied with the Shia but NOT Shia, and the Druzes and many others. And there are the Sufis which are more ambiguous in that they are present in the other sects as the mystical Moslems and something approaching philosophers in Islam. All are ultimately anathema to each other but allies against the infidels.
And of course we are stupid enough to go in there and get involved in THEIR sectarian disputes, that have nothing whatsoever to do with us and have been going on for almost 1,000 years!
It’s us who are insane for getting involved in that hot mess and pretending we are protecting some Muslims from other Muslims.
Strange bedfellows alert.
I don't think I will really ever totally grasp the essence of Islam and it's sects. It is very hard to get your head wrapped around something as irrational and really anti-human as Islam, particularly 7th century Islam.
Nevertheless, our fearless leaders in Washington had better do so and soon. I suspect the best we can hope for is sometime in 2017. The current regime seems more dedicated to the success of ISIS than its defeat.