Andrew, I do agree — enthusiastically. This is why I have never understood the reluctance in many corners of the U.S. government to believe that al Qaeda’s Sunnis would make common cause with Shiites from Hezbollah and Iran, or secular Baathists like Saddam, if it would serve the greater goal (for them) of harming us. In international affairs, opportunism as well as who and what you hate more (or, maybe better, perceive yourself as threatened by) are historically better guides about potential alliances than ideology. Given our own history (aligning with Stalin in WWII, for example, or National Review’s joining forces with Mother Jones against the dreaded Postal Service), I don’t understand why our analysts categorically assume that there are some actors who would simply never work with other actors.