Here’s a clue. Our great Republican leaders still don’t know the difference between Shias and Sunnis. And our very own Rep. Terry Everett (R-AL) leads the way in ignorance. Jeff Stein, national security editor for the Congressional Quarterly, asked the basic question.
…Who’s on what side today, and what does each want?
After all, wouldn’t British counterterrorism officials responsible for Northern Ireland know the difference between Catholics and Protestants? In a remotely similar but far more lethal vein, the 1,400-year Sunni-Shiite rivalry is playing out in the streets of Baghdad, raising the specter of a breakup of Iraq into antagonistic states, one backed by Shiite Iran and the other by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states.
A complete collapse in Iraq could provide a haven for Al Qaeda operatives within striking distance of Israel, even Europe. And the nature of the threat from Iran, a potential nuclear power with protégés in the Gulf states, northern Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, is entirely different from that of Al Qaeda. It seems silly to have to argue that officials responsible for counterterrorism should be able to recognize opportunities for pitting these rivals against each other.
But so far, most American officials I’ve interviewed don’t have a clue. That includes not just intelligence and law enforcement officials, but also members of Congress who have important roles overseeing our spy agencies. How can they do their jobs without knowing the basics?
How indeed? Everett, who serves as vice chairman of the House intelligence subcommittee on technical and tactical intelligence, is clueless.
“Do you know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?” I asked him a few weeks ago.
Mr. Everett responded with a low chuckle. He thought for a moment: “One’s in one location, another’s in another location. No, to be honest with you, I don’t know. I thought it was differences in their religion, different families or something.”
To his credit, he asked me to explain the differences. I told him briefly about the schism that developed after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and how Iraq and Iran are majority Shiite nations while the rest of the Muslim world is mostly Sunni. “Now that you’ve explained it to me,” he replied, “what occurs to me is that it makes what we’re doing over there extremely difficult, not only in Iraq but that whole area.” [emphasis added]
No shit. At least Everett admitted he didn’t know and asked for more information, but it’s a real shame our leaders didn’t do that before they made the decision to go to war. Of course, that would have required clear-eyed analysis and planning. I guess it was easier to swallow Bush’s crap about God telling him it was a good idea.
Not to worry, though. As Tony Snow says, the president has made it obvious we’re going to win.
Billmon is all over this, too:
Even the British, renowned for the caliber of their imperial civil service, usually operated in stunning ignorance of the people and cultures they ruled over, certainly so in the case of the Arab world. Which is probably why they, too, were so often taken by surprise — by the Sepoy Mutiny, the Battle of Isandlwana, the Easter Rising, the Iraq revolt, Palestinian resistance to Zionism, the list goes on and on.
It just seems to be part of the imperial mentality to ignore — and be ignorant of — political and/or cultural differences among the lesser breeds. The whole point of empire is to be at the center of all things, and when you’re at the center it can take an unusually deep intellectual curiosity (or eccentric personal tastes) to sustain an interest or involvement in what’s going on out at the periphery. (It’s also easy to look outward and see nothing but a reflection of yourself or your fantasies, which I suppose is what Orientalism is all about. But that’s another subject.)
Add the fact that America hasn’t mentally outgrown its obsolete isolationist tendencies, and still finds it difficult to admit she even has an empire, and it’s not surprising that knowledge of foreign cultures is scarce in our ruling circles — not withstanding the fact that we’re a nation of immigrants. It doesn’t help that the political movement and party in power for the better part of the past thirty years has been deeply suspicious of, if not openly hostile to, such expertise, as well as to academia and the diplomatic service in general.
http://billmon.org/archives/002840.html
He’s so right, Jeff. The existence of Iraq is based on ignorance of the culture and people.
[...] Kathy has already posted about this, but it needs more publicity: FOR the past several months, I’ve been wrapping up lengthy interviews with Washington counterterrorism officials with a fundamental question: “Do you know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?” [...]
[...] Kathy at Birmingham Blues points out that Everett’s position in Congress should maybe go to someone more qualified: Everett, who serves as vice chairman of the House intelligence subcommittee on technical and tactical intelligence, is clueless. [...]