Many Sunnis, for example, accuse America of favoritism: the United States intervenes to protect Kurds, Yazidis, and Christians in northern Iraq, they say, but does little to stop the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Sunnis in Syria. In fact, America’s complicated history of church-state relations at home has made it reluctant to intervene on the part of any religious groups abroad, especially when the population is small.
一个多世纪以来，西方政府对该地区种族和宗教少数群体的保护一直是一个争议话题，至今仍然如此。比如，许多逊尼派指责美国的偏袒——他们说，美国干预保护伊拉克北部的库尔德人、雅兹迪人和基督徒，但对叙利亚数十万逊尼派惨遭屠戮无动于衷。事实上，美国本国复杂的宗教-国家关系史使其不愿干预任何外部宗教群体，特别是这一群体的人数很少的情况。