The current escalation of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is currenly getting most of the attention on the world stage, but NYU Islamic Studies professor Bernard Haykel reminds us in this NY times op-ed that an even knottier problem than Islamic hatred of Israel is the conflict within Islam between Sunni and the Shiite ideologies.
Sunni ideology regards Shiites as heretics and Sunni groups such as Al Qaeda profoundly distrust Shiite groups such as Hezbollah (Al Qaeda reportedly gave the green light months ago to Sunni extremists in Iraq to attack Shiite civilians and holy sites). But if Hezbollah is successful in its current attack on Israel — and “success” may only necessitate survival — Haykel sees ominous signs for the West:

What will such a victory [by Hezbollah over Israel] mean? Perhaps Hezbollahís ascendancy among Sunnis will make it possible for Shiites and Sunnis to stop the bloodletting in Iraq ó and to focus instead on their ìrealî enemies, namely the United States and Israel. Rumblings against Israeli actions in Lebanon from both Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq already suggest such an outcome.
That may be good news for Iraqis, but it marks a dangerous turn for the West. And there are darker implications still. Al Qaeda, after all, is unlikely to take a loss of status lying down. Indeed, the rise of Hezbollah makes it all the more likely that Al Qaeda will soon seek to reassert itself through increased attacks on Shiites in Iraq and on Westerners all over the world ó whatever it needs to do in order to regain the title of true defender of Islam.

Read the entire piece. And don’t miss Dan Senor‘s Opinion Journal op-ed that explains how the militant Shiite forces in Iraq are shaping domestic and foreign policy there.