Letters to the Editor
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Two problems...
I'm guessing that the lack of outcry this inspires is related to two intersecting problems.
One: too many people in America are confused about the difference themselves, or they don't think there's truly any difference, or they just don't think it matters. ("Sunni, Shi'ite, who cares, they all want to kill us, right?")
Two: the MSM (what a surprise!) doesn't spend enough time analyzing and interpreting, and thus teaching readers/viewers about the difference in a way that would get through to them.
It's very simple. Saying "Al-Qaeda is a radical arm of the Shi'ite sect" would be a lot like standing up and saying, "The IRA were/are a radical arm of the Baptists."
... Yeah. Would most Americans not spot the GIANT MISTAKE in such a statement immediately? Would they not, to some degree or other, understand that Baptists and Catholics are radically different, though both Christian?
Perhaps I am hopeful, but maybe if you hammered it home to Americans (including our so-called leaders, like McCain) that when you confuse Sunni and Shi'a, you sound just as ignorant as if you were to confuse Baptists with Catholics... maybe that would make an impression on them, by giving them an example they can relate to.