This is worrisome, but not altogether surprising:
A few weeks ago, I took the F.B.I.ââ¬â¢s temperature again. At the end of a long interview, I asked Willie Hulon, chief of the bureauââ¬â¢s new national security branch, whether he thought that it was important for a man in his position to know the difference between Sunnis and Shiites. ââ¬ÅYes, sure, itââ¬â¢s right to know the difference,ââ¬Â he said. ââ¬ÅItââ¬â¢s important to know who your targets are.ââ¬Â
That was a big advance over 2005. So next I asked him if he could tell me the difference. He was flummoxed. ââ¬ÅThe basics goes back to their beliefs and who they were following,ââ¬Â he said. ââ¬ÅAnd the conflicts between the Sunnis and the Shia and the difference between who they were following.ââ¬Â
O.K., I asked, trying to help, what about today? Which one is Iran ââ¬â Sunni or Shiite? He thought for a second. ââ¬ÅIran and Hezbollah,ââ¬Â I prompted. ââ¬ÅWhich are they?ââ¬Â
He took a stab: ââ¬ÅSunni.ââ¬Â
Wrong.
Since Iraq is on the brink of (or in the middle of) a Shi’ite-Sunni Civil War, and since Hezbollah and al Qaeda are both fanatical anti-American terrorist groups, rivals for support in the Middle East, and also to some extent rivals with one another, it would be nice if the people paid to know these things, actually did know these things.
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It does seem that knowledge (or lack) of the Sunnis/Shiites is something that John and Jane Doe do not know either. I guess, he reflects his subjects knowledge levels. And, in a similar way his upward reporting structure that give him his barking orders. Someway or another, in my world of business, we know our competitors and customers because we lose business otherwise. My only consolation is that, I think, the bad ones do not know the difference between our very own moderate/fundamentalist/evangelical Christians either. Anyhow, it does seem strange that the common platform of prophets such as Abraham, Moses etc. are all shared by what we call Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Does he even know that? Oh, I forget, he is a mere mortal anyhow.
For someone in this position, such ignorance is inexcusable. John and Jane Doe may not know the difference between Shiites and Sunnis, but they aren’t being paid to direct the national security branch of the FBI.
I have read that – prior to the invasion of Iraq – Bush was being briefed on the historical tensions between Shiites and Sunnis. Acoording to the breifer, Bush became increasingly restless (ADD?) and though he never came right out and asked, the briefer strongly suspected that the President had no idea what Sunnis and Shiites were.
Great! Gee, I wonder how we got into this mess. Oh well, Shiite, Sunni, Summeria, Shiva . . . I guess it’ll all work out.
Christ Almighty that’s worriesome. What can we expect from thsoe who’ve forgotten their won faiths though?
That should have been “those who’ve frgotten their own faiths”. Sorry.
Is the Sheik supposed to be some Borat wannabe or something?
I’m trying to figure out if he’s just another typical Leftist troll.