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October 19, 2006

Stunning ignorance

bush_clueless_350.jpgJeff Stein, the national security editor at Congressional Quarterly, reports on in this NY Times article some questions he has been asking folks in Washington recently:

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?” [. . .]

. . . 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? [. . .]

Take Representative Terry Everett, a seven-term Alabama Republican who is vice chairman of the House intelligence subcommittee on technical and tactical intelligence.

“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.”

That's the vice-chairman of a House intelligence subcommittee? And he doesn't even make this top 10 list of the dumbest members of Congress.

God save us.

By the way, while on matters religious, don't miss this NY Times article that reports on the hardships faced by Iraq's dwindling Christian population.

Posted by Tom at October 19, 2006 04:24 AM

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Comments

Par for the stay-the-course GOP.

I certainly hope voters opt for a new path -- in Washington and in Austin -- three weeks from now.

Posted by: PDiddie [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 19, 2006 06:35 AM

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