Reporters in Glass Houses: Reyes Inquistor Stein Says 'Al Qaeda Shi'ite'

MSNBC/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Hint to reporters whose shtick is exposing the ignorance of government leaders: keep your facts straight yourselves.

There's been a rash of stories in recent days about the shocking ignorance of various government officials when it comes to bread 'n butter facts about the war on terror. First there was a report by Lisa Myers of NBC revealing how little some top FBI officials knew about various terrorist groups and leaders.

Just in the last couple days, Jeff Stein the National Security Editor at Congressional Quarterly, has been getting a lot of play with his story of similar ignorance on the part of incoming House Intelligence Commitee Chairman Silvestre Reyes [D-TX]. Reyes didn't know that Al Qaeda was a strictly Sunni group, nor did he have command of the basics about Hezbollah.

Good on Stein for exposing the lacunae in Reyes' knowledge. But by the same token, shouldn't Stein be careful not to commit an identical error himself? Appearing on MSNBC this afternoon, Stein described to host Joe Scarborough his conversation with Reyes in these terms:

"I said, for example, Al Qaeda, which one are they? He said they were predominantly Shiite."

Presuming to correct the record, Stein then stated: "They are not predominantly anything. They are Shiite."

Ruh-roh! Al Qaeda is entirely Sunni, or as Stein wrote in his article: "Al Qaeda is profoundly Sunni. If a Shiite showed up at an al Qaeda club house, they’d slice off his head and use it for a soccer ball. That’s because the extremist Sunnis who make up a l Qaeda consider all Shiites to be heretics. Al Qaeda’s Sunni roots account for its very existence."

It was surely a slip of the tongue on Stein's part, not actual confusion on the facts. Even so, if there was one error he didn't want to make . . .

Finkelstein recently returned from Iraq. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Reporter-in-glass house ping to Today show list.

[Lucky9teen]

It was surely a slip of the tongue on Stein's part, not actual confusion on the facts.

I beg to differ. Most MSM reporters say whatever it is they think wants to be heard, fact or not. They wouldn't know "facts" if they were blown up by them personally.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

I'm giving Stein the benefit of the doubt considering he wrote an entire article exposing how Reyes was unaware of the facts and correcting the record himself.

[Izzy Dunne]

Even assuming that Stein is ignorant abut the subject (which he is clearly not), which is more important: a reporter not knowing the facts, or a givernmentofficial responsible for knowing the facts not knowing the facts?

[Echo Talon]

but the reporter isn't the head of intel...

[ClearCase_guy]

If a reporter does this, it's an understandable slip of the tongue.

If President Bush were to do this, it would simply prove that he is a LIAR and that he is a MORON and that Al Gore really won in 2000.

But, you know, it's not like the media has an agenda, or anything ...

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Agreed - Reyes' ignorance is more troubling. Even so, I was shocked by Stein's slip.

[Stark_GOP]

One is the incoming House Intelligence Commitee Chairman; one is not.
This is the MSM trying to file this under "We All Make Mistakes."

[Binghamton_native]

Looks like what we have here is a media p****ng contest. In the actual CQ article (here: http://public.cq.com/public/20061211_homeland.html ), Stein never says what is attributed to him by Mark Finkelstein of MSNBC.

[Asclepius]

I was shocked by Stein's slip.

What got me were his fishnet stockings.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Argh! It wasn't in his article. It was in his appearance on MSNBC this afternoon! I pointed out [I'm Finkelstein] that in his article Stein had gotten it straight.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Argh! It wasn't in his article. It was in his appearance on MSNBC this afternoon! I pointed out [I'm Finkelstein] that in his article Stein had gotten it straight.

[Izzy Dunne]

Read the article here again. Finkelstein (a.k.a. "Governsleastgovernsbest") is talking about a TV appearance.

[Gunny Gene]

Shiite, Sunni, Wahabi; Who gives a crap? I sure don't.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

This is the MSM trying to file this under "We All Make Mistakes."

I can understand how'd you think that, but that's not the case. I wrote the original NewsBusters article linked here. Our raison d'etre at NB is "to expose and combat liberal media bias," and believe me that's what I do. Please just check my archive if you have any doubts.

http://newsbusters.org/blog/40

That said, I simply found Stein's slip noteworthy.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Thanks, ID!

[Izzy Dunne]

if there was one error he didn't want to make . . .

Kind of like pointing out a misspelling on FR, while committing your own.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Any Gunny has my respect. But knowing the enemy is important.

[Albion Wilde]

Reyes Inquistor Stein Says 'Al Qaeda Shi'ite'

There's also a typo. Should have read "Al Qaeda = Shite."