Posted on 12/12/2006 10:48:57 PM PST by Mrs Ivan
The new Democratic chairman of a US congressional intelligence committee did not know what Hizbollah was and incorrectly described al-Qa'eda as deriving from the Shia rather than Sunni sect of Islam.
Representative Silvestre Reyes was flummoxed when a journalist rounded off a 40-minute interview by asking him two basic questions about the Islamic groups that are the principal targets of America's intelligence agencies.
"Al-Qa'eda is what – Sunni or Shia?" Jeff Stein, the Congressional Quarterly magazine's national security editor, asked Mr Reyes. "Al-Qa'eda, they have both," came the reply. "You're talking about predominately?" the congressman then asked, before venturing: "Predominantly – probably Shi'ite."
As Mr Stein noted in his subsequent column: "He couldn't have been more wrong. Al-Qa'eda is profoundly Sunni. If a Shi'ite showed up at an al-Qa'eda club house, they'd slice off his head and use it for a soccer ball."
He then asked the congressman about the terrorist group Hizbollah. "Hizbollah. Uh, Hizbollah..." he said, laughing. "Why do you ask me these questions at five o'clock? Can I answer in Spanish? Do you speak Spanish?"
The holes in his knowledge are a fresh embarrassment to Nancy Pelosi, the incoming Speaker of the House of Representatives, whose leadership was undermined when her chosen deputy was rejected by Democrats.
She selected Mr Reyes to chair the House intelligence committee over the head of Jane Harman, who is widely respected as having a firm grasp of the nuances of the Middle East. Miss Pelosi is said to harbour a long-time personal grudge against Miss Harman.
Mr Stein has been quizzing senior intelligence officials and politicians with similar questions for the past 18 months. In a similar gaffe-laden session, Willie Hulon, chief of the FBI's national security branch, did not know the difference between Sunnis and Shia either. "The basics goes back to their beliefs and who they were following," he said. "And the conflicts between the Sunnis and the Shia and the difference between who they were following."
So which were Iran and Hizbollah? With a 50 per cent chance of getting it right, Mr Hulon flunked by plumping for Sunni.
Congressman Terry Everett, a Republican and vice-chairman of the House intelligence sub-committee on technical and tactical intelligence, chuckled when he was asked the same question.
"One's in one location, another's in another location," he said. "No, to be honest with you, I don't know. I thought it was differences in their religion, different families or something."
When Mr Stein outlined the difference, which dates back to the death of the Prophet Mohammed in AD632, Mr Everett said: "Now that you've explained it to me, what occurs to me is that it makes what we're doing over there extremely difficult, not only in Iraq but that whole area."
Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis, a Republican who oversees the CIA's recruiting of Islamic spies, was also stumped when asked if she knew the difference between Sunnis and Shia. "Do I? You know, I should. It's a difference in their fundamental religious beliefs. The Sunni are more radical than the Shia. Or vice versa. But I think it's the Sunnis who're more radical than the Shia."
Mr Stein said: "This is basic stuff. We are not talking branches of Sunni. Congress's role is to oversee the intelligence agencies and make sure taxpayers' dollars are well spent but they don't know how to ask the right questions."
Islam split into Shia and Sunni sects after the death of the Prophet in AD632. What became the Sunni sect supported Mohammed's most trusted lieutenants as his successors, while the Shia believed that only his direct descendents should rule the Islamic world. Over the centuries the sects have divided further in areas such as prayer and Koranic interpretation, and who is the true leader of Muslims.
Wow.
The American media wouldn't even think about running a nasty photo of a democrat.
Glad nobody asked W.
I think bigtime needs an hour of TV time.
Ms. Harmon has proved herself many times over. She is a patriot. And to think she is being overlooked for people who are obvious security risks....
I seem to recall him being unable to name the heads of government of India and Pakistan. A regrettable, but understandable, gap in his knowledge. It is not comparable to an intelligence official not knowing the makeup of the organizations with which we have been at war for a number of years. Years! Al Qaeda and Hezbollah especially aren't new on the scene nor are they tangential to his duties. They are long-standing subjects of intense interest to the intelligence community. It seems Mr. Reyes does not yet understand the work of the intelligence community; but he will soon be in charge of exercising oversight over its operations, and quickly become an authoritative (if confused) voice in the legislature. I can only imagine how much "nuance" these people will bring to the job, and be grateful that the "grownups" have taken back the government. If we're really lucky, maybe we'll even see some "gravitas."
"Why do you ask me these questions at five o'clock? Can I answer in Spanish? Do you speak Spanish?"
five o'clock - press 2 for spanish?
Now if you're not part of the solution, stop being part of the problem! Get off the TV Silvestre and put the Republicans back on!
Sorry, I should have written oh dear ;) or included a sarcasm tag.
I said it in 1992 and it bears repeating: Last month, the voters of the USA handed the car keys to a drunk driver. These leftists have NO understanding of the dangers facing the US. They see everything - and I mean everything - in terms of domestic power politics.
The situation involving this idiot Reyes reminds me of a joke that Spy Magazine (now defunct) played on several members of the incoming "class of 1992". (You remember 1992 - The Year of the Women, Bill Clinton's 43% solution, etc.) Anyway, they asked a few new members (Democrat leftists) questions regarding the ethnic cleansing in Fredonia and what should be done about it. The clueless jerks - Corrine Brown of FL stands out - proceeded to emote and complain that we should be doing more in Fredonia when, if they had any idea about the question, they should have answered that branding Firefly a war criminal was the correct action to take. Fredonia was the fictional country in the Marx Bros movie, Duck Soup. It's astounding that the country, once again, fell for the bullshit of the Dems/Leftists. (By the way, there aren't many good Republicans either. They're just Socialist-lite.)
did not know what Hizbollah was and incorrectly described al-Qa'eda as deriving from the Shia rather than Sunni sect of Islam.
And these are the people that the dumb vote voted for?
"I'm a little tea pot, short and stout!..."
"Pretty standard for Democrats."
Except that the article lists 1 Democrat, 2 Republicans and one Administration appointee.
At any rate I have been giving the question of Sunni vs Shia considerable thought, and here is something that I have not heard discussed to any extent anywhere, although as the "civil war" in Iraq progresses, some are beginning to become somewhat aware of the fundamental problem.
An article posted at FR asked "What is our objective in Iraq."
As a parent whose son spent 8 months in Gulf War I with the 82nd Airborne, and who just came back from 8 months in Afghanistan, this is an important question to me. I was glad that we were going to take out Saddam Hussein, and although no one mentions it, one fine result of this war is that we will never have to deal with his two mentally diseased sons Uday and Qusay. Unfortunately, it appears that many mistakes were made in trying to secure the peace after our lightening "win" on the battlefield.
Now, of course, the whole situation has gotten much more complicated, with a pinch of Lebanon, a cup of Syria, a quart of Iran, and a generous sprinkling of Al Qaida. What no one seems to be focusing on is the fighting that is now going on within the Islamic world. Which is becoming a very ugly stew. Yesterday was a prime example with the execution of a leader and his 3 children as a result of in- fighting between Palistinian factions Hammas and Fatah. Shia Iran assisted us against the Sunni Taliban and Al Qaida. The Sunnis and Druzes of Lebanon have already fought the Shiites. The Shia and Sunni in Iraq are at each other's throats, except the Sunni Kurds who are trying to stay out of it, and probably deserve our support the most. And the Alawites of Syria have their own position which is not necessarily the same as Iran's.
We must RECOGNIZE and STRATEGIZE based on the fact in appears the Islamic world is in about the place the Christian world was in 4 or 5 centuries ago with the conflicts of the Protestant Reformation. Perhaps a useful strategy for us would be to educate the Islamic world on just how deadly and painful those conflicts were. We had the Hundred Years War, the Thirty Years War, the conflicts in England, Scotland and Ireland with Catholicism vs Protestantism, then the Anglican church vs the Presbeterians, Puritans, etc., and many variatons upon thos themes. Surely it would make sense to hold up to the Islamic world the lesson of the millions of Christians who died in those terrible conflicts. If not, Islam will surely endure the same kind of suffering. "Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them."
Whether we actually decide to promote this as a strategy or not, if we are not very clear that this is a major factor, we will continue to be fighting the wrong fight in the wrong way.
I don't read books and I could answer those questions.
I kid you not, he actually used that as an excuse.
Heck Tiger the students in my 7th grade geography class could answer those questions.
And this guy has bin on the committee six years.
One would hope that Nancy Pelosi's decision to weaken national security in order to indulge her petty personal vendettas would come back to haunt her. There was a very capable person, senior on the committee, to step into this role, and Nancy Pelosi selected this idiot instead, because of some high-school-type girl-feud thing.
Frankly, The First Ever Woman Speaker Of The House Ever Ever has been a bit of a setback in the trend toward women in leadership positions. She has shown that she can't stand up to bullies by putting William "Cold Cash" Jefferson back on Ways & Means, can't abide capable underlings that might outshine her, like Steny Hoyer, and can't overcome petty personal jelousies against a capable woman like Jane Harman. Speaker Pelosi has demonstrated, on a national stage, all the prototypical "woman" behaviors that is said to make them poor leaders.
Democrats’ New Intelligence Chairman Needs a Crash Course on al Qaeda
It's a question of dum or dummer.
Walk like an Egyptian.
It's almost as if she handed the Speaker's gavel to America's Children!
Can you draw some conclusion, make some synthesis from your statement, "The american people knew this and voted for the dems anyway[sic]"?
If I offer clues, will that help?
Democracy is the rule of fools by fools.
Read The Bell Curve, reviled but not refuted.
Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns. NRA KMA
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