>The "Danish cartoons" fiasco was, as best I can tell, a contrived bit of "theatre" that got way out of hand. Similar with the Pope's recent statement that caused resentment, at least in my opinion (though this Pope's previous "Defender of the Faith" position may have been 'calculated' in his remarks).

Really weird, that incident. As far as I could tell, the Pope didn't do anything wrong on this particular occasion. According to BBC, he said twice, "I am quoting", or something to that effect.

The previous Pope (a few centuries ago) is to blame, but that is quite a different story.

>That may be an excellent question, or it may be a silly one. I don't know, myself, but I have noted that there seems no great love between Persians and Arabs (Sunni and Shia?). Is Iran really arming militant groups, or is that what we're told? I'm afraid I've lost trust in our (western) leaders' word and the media they manipulate so well.

I think Shia vs. Sunna is a great part of the problem. There has traditionally been much enmity between those two groups, quite comparable to the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants.

On the other hand, perhaps some Muslim countries would prefer to see the "wrong" kind of Islam strengthened, than any faith outside of Islam.

Also, it is my understanding that there are Shia populations in several countries outside Iran, although they would usually be in the minority.