Reza Aslan makes the point in How to Win a Cosmic War that Islam has the "near enemy", the "far enemy" and the "cosmic enemy":

- Near Enemy: Get out of my valley, infidel. I will not compete with you for well water.

- Far Enemy: Stop supplying the infidels of my valley with machine guns, infidel. I shall destroy your barracks.

- Cosmic Enemy: Stop polluting the Universe with McDonald's and idolatry, infidel. I shall pray for your destruction daily.

For Osama bin Laden, a child of privilege and Western culture, the United States was the near enemy. For your average Pashtun, the United States was on the far-to-Cosmic range. The 9/11 hijackers and the 3/11 bombers were all westernized and concerned with enemies within their sphere of influence. The average Kurd-on-the-ground, on the other hand, is far more concerned with the Sunni shooting at his goats. Yeah, it's bullshit that American women don't wear the chadoor but there's only so many things you can worry about in a day, you know?

This is what skews US policy: The "near enemy" for Iran is the CIA. Since they're the ones who give us our intelligence, they report that back as "they're serious about this 'Death to America' shit."