Impending "War" [?] Between AICPA and IMA: This Way Lies Madness

When I attended last year's IMA conference in Baltimore, I was puzzled by the non-recognition of CPAs in attendance and further confused by reference to opening of CMA firms in some larger cities. Yesterday, I read in the Tennessee CPA Journal that the AICPA was partnering with an international management accounting body (CIMA) to develop a designation within the CPA for management accountants and my reaction was--What are you DOING? It seems (and I would love to be told that I am wrong) that the AICPA and IMA are playing the part of a once-married couple which has split and have no problem with trying to one-up each other. As an accounting educator, I see no benefits in this for accounting students nor the overall accounting profession. It seems clear to me that the profession is not strong enough for what I consider to be unnecessary feuding and that even a subtle rivalry between the two organizations will not sit well, particularly with younger accountants.