Could we have it wrong? More often than not we blame the fighting in Iraq and the Middle East in general on the disparity of the religious and cultural differences of the Sunni and Shi'ite tribes. Sectarian differences have been in place since the split of Islam into the two main factions of Sunni and Shi'ite. This divide is the largest and oldest divide in the history of Islam, yet the two groups have coexisted for hundreds of years. However in the last ten years we have witnessed a rapid down turn between the two.

These tensions are mainly driven by political issues and not sectarian ones. The 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, Hezbollah's expanision, the Syrian revolution, the Arab Spring, the recent Saudi execution of a Shiite Cleric are all political events that increased tensions between the two groups.

It is unlikely this is going to improve with the two largest countries in the area supporting opposing politial organization.