&gt; What the Kurds ever did to provoke them ?<p>Most recently, allied with the West in the same Western acts seen as provocations. And violent Kurdish separatist movements, using terrorism among their tactics, have operated in the region for quite some time, including the Iraqi Kurdish groups that allied with the West during and subsequent to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.<p>&gt; The Shi&#x27;a ?<p>Most recently, much the same as the Kurds. But the history of Sunni&#x2F;Shi&#x27;a violence, in both directions, is <i>extremely</i> long.<p>&gt; The Iranians ?<p>The Iranians have sponsored a lot of the Shi&#x27;a side of the Sunni&#x2F;Shi&#x27;a violence in the Middle East since the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran.<p>And once a people have been radicalized by attacks by <i>any</i> party enough that they are susceptible to propaganda that sees outsiders as the enemy, fine distinctions <i>among</i> different sets of outsiders often cease to be made. Understanding the root of the radicalization is not the same as arguing that the radicalization, and especially all of its targets, are rational or <i>justified</i>.