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.
Did you notice that some Reublicans in that interview has no clue either? Ignorance of foreign affairs and the Islamic enemy is not an exclusive Dhimmi-crat trait. Quite a few Republicans are asses too when it comes to their knowledge of these important topics. Sigh!
Maybe so, but it wasn't Republicans nominating an idiot to a chair position.
This is really trite. What does it matter? They are Muslims. Both hate America. Both want to expel Israel from the Mideast. Both carry out the same crimes against non Muslims. It's like asking what's the difference between Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. The important thing to look for in our elected officials is to find out what side are they on.
Good catch! You should run for congress!
Thats why I say GW should put the Demons to the test and refuse to sign any bill that doesn't have true bipartisan support.
This is a subject that requires people to read books and papers. But apparently their staffs don't read books either.
Appreciate your insight on the current various fighting groups (since I would flunk the test also).
Maybe part of the real strategy in Iraq is to "ignore" the "civil war." Seems it would work...let them fight each other instead of allied troops.
If everyone would read FR daily, they'd be well informed on just about everything, and a lot sooner than if they went elsewhere for knowledge. I learn more here than I do practically anywhere else.
Well, the difference between the Sunnis and Shi'ites is this: The Sunnis want to kill us all with terrorist attacks, and the Shi'ites want to kill us all with nuclear weapons.
Interesting article some time back in the Naval Institute Proceedings--the author argued that Arab civilization is in the midst of a collapse, and gave a bunch of metrics to support his thesis.
"You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Congress."
;o)
Take care of those kids and blessings to you for it.
With a world full of very serious enemies of the U.S. I expect it will though she will probably never be held to account.
"let them fight each other instead of allied troops."
That would be nice, except we now seem to be suffering 10 soldiers dead each day. I seem to recall when it was more like 10 a week.
Tom Clancy's book "Shadow Warriors", a factual account of Special Forces, has a very good long chapter on "The Lebanon Tragedy." I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants a better understanding of what works, and with this specific chapter, what some of our problems in the Middle East. One example is the fact that our intelligence capability in Lebanon was wiped out twice. Once when our embassy was bombed killing a lot of intelligence staff, and secondly when the head of local CIA was captured, presumably tortured, and his contacts killed or disappeared. He was also never found alive or perhaps not at all. We have really been blind intelligence wise for some time in that part of the world and it shows.
Arab civilization may be in the middle of collapse, but Islam has spread far beyond the Arab world. Even in the Middle East you have the Iranians who are Persian not Arab. Also not Arab are the large Muslim populations of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, to name a few.
An important factor in the Protestant Reformation struggles was that dissenting groups had American to move to. Large numbers of religious "refugees" came here from Germany, Scotland, England, and Ireland. The ultimate conclusion was that the only way we could have a free country was for us to have universal FREEDOM OF RELIGION. These people had suffered the worst ravages of intolerance, and fortunately our leaders had the good sense to decide to leave religion out of politics. What Islam will do with the same fighting and intolerance we have yet to see.
They do not have a wide open frontier to escape to as existed in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Will they ever learn that the only way for multiple interpretations of the same, or different religions to survive in a country is to have RELIGIOUS FREEDOM? Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this is going to happen any time soon. I just hope we can manage to keep our t.. out of the wringer while all this is going on.
Anyone here reside in Alabama 4th district? Everett only reads e-mail from his own constituants, so I can't berate him for his incopetence.
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