The main players cracking this one open were rich Wahabis in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Emirates, for whom religious sect is far more important than peace or stability.
The US got into the game late and was stuck in a bind, but the Sunni Arab nations that despised the Hezbollah / Syrian / Iranian Shia (+ minority) crescent were the ones who really financed the initial insurgencies.
The US got into the game late and was stuck in a bind, but the Sunni Arab nations that despised the Hezbollah / Syrian / Iranian Shia (+ minority) crescent were the ones who really financed the initial insurgencies.