The make up of all the muslims in the world Dianavan is that 85% of them are Sunni and 15% are Shiia - If you then took a "representative" group of 100 muslims Dianavan how many would be Sunni and how many would be Shiia - Do the maths yourself.


"If the U.S. backs the Saudis" - Does the US back the Saudis Dianavan?

The Saudi's do not back Al-Qaeda, they have publically stated that they would back the Sunni minority in Iraq, matter of public record no secret there.

"The relationship between al Qaeda and the U.S.?" - That of quarry and hunter - so far the hunter has done quite well.

"If the Saudis back the Sunnis in Iraq, where were they when the U.S. ousted the Sunnis from control in Iraq?" - The US did not oust the Sunni's from control in Iraq Dianavan. The US ousted the Ba'athists from control in Iraq - Bit of a difference.

US foreign policy and national interests align themselves with those of Saudi Arabia in that neither country wishes to see any one country in control of the Persian Gulf region.