Unfortunately, as I’m sure you know, many of these Islamists terrorists do not leave us alone if we leave them alone. Hence, it becomes in our interest to support the most peaceful and reasonable groups. It’s worth noting, by the way, the Kurds are Sunni Muslims, and they are definitely on our side.
you said: “the Kurds are Sunni Muslims”
That is largely true, but this article and input I have had over the past year indicate that certain groups of Kurds are more than 50% non Muslim. There is history of religious tolerance going far back. That is probably part of why the Turks hate them. (only part)
We may need greater cultural awareness of the Shia vs Sunni split. Yes there are indeed “peaceful Muslims” who mean us no harm; yes there are “jihadist Muslims” who will go to great lengths (suicide included) to do us harm. Once our culture identifies a bright & labeled division between the two, we’ll do better at addressing the latter.