This reminds me strongly of what I read back before I retired from the Navy in 2001, in a book called "The Shi'a Revival" by Vali Nasr, who had been a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. The book had been recommended reading for Navy officers (I was only enlisted, of course).

Nasr relates a quote by al-Zarqawi, then the second-in-command of al Qaeda (IIRC), where he said, "My brothers, keep up the fight against the Zionists and the Great Satan, but never forget the real enemy are the apostate Shi'a." (my memory of the quote may not be exact, but the meaning is the same.)

That's when I realized that to Sunni terrorist groups, the US and Israel are fundraising excuses as much as enemies - their real enemy are the Shi'a, as has been the case since not long after the death of Muhammed. This must also be why Saudi Arabia spends more on "defense" than Russia does.

I loved your article and am impressed - I did not have a clue about the role Qatar has played in the rapprochement between the Sunnis and the Zionists.