Is U.S. foreign policy encouraging sectarian violence worldwide?

Recent attacks at Shiite shrines in Iraq seem to be the latest in a long line of indicators that that country is devolving into Civil War along sectarian lines. With the announcement that a Sunni shrine in Pakistan was attacked by two apparent suicide bombers it now appears that the U.S. may be outsourcing terrorism throughout the Muslim world. The fact that the U.S. policy seems to us to be non-partisan does not, in fact, mean that elsewhere. We support the Shia government in Iraq marginally (and Kurds who are Sunni, more so) and are at the same time working to undermine the government in Iran (Shia). All of this working at apparent cross-purposes may only be undermining whatever credibility we still have. The larger issue though is that with each sectarian attack anywhere we increase the likelihood of sectarian violence everywhere. The flattening of the information world means that motivation, coordination, and reprisals are easier to manage on a global scale, than on a local one - where pesky and inquisitive police may get in the way. The surprise factor is the primary weapon of these fighters, and that factor is greatly amplified if the availability of targets grows from local or even national to global.

A grand strategy to address terrorism is needed - but the strategy that we've been using not only fails to address the root causes of terrorism, it actually contributes to those root causes.