This story is pretty sad. Especially since the man concerned had to know it was coming. Or maybe he really did think being a Democrat gave him +5 armor of invulnerability to impertinent media questions?
It begs the question, of course: How can the Intelligence Committee do effective oversight of U.S. spy agencies when its leaders don’t know basics about the battlefield? …
Al Qaeda is what, I asked, Sunni or Shia?
“Al Qaeda, they have both,� Reyes said. “You’re talking about predominately?�
“Sure,� I said, not knowing what else to say.
“Predominantly — probably Shiite,� he ventured.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Al Qaeda is profoundly Sunni. If a Shiite showed up at an al Qaeda club house, they’d slice off his head and use it for a soccer ball.
That’s because the extremist Sunnis who make up a l Qaeda consider all Shiites to be heretics.
At least he was somewhat more knowledgeable than two of the Republicans on the committee were. On the other hand, he had several months warning that these questions were being asked by this reporter, after his two colleagues were ridiculed in the New York Times (justly so, for once).
On this one, I’m against a partisan spin. There seem to be plenty of political ‘leaders’, both Republican and Democrat who seem profoundly ignorant of the details of the forces we’re facing. It would have been nice, of course, to see the NY Times, before the election, publish both Democrat and Republican ignorance of these issues, but, hey, what do you expect of a pamphlet run out of Howard Dean’s office? [so you couldn't resist at least one partisan dig? -ed.]
What to do? Hope they learn, I guess, and try and shame them into learning. Hence this blog post, in its own tiny way.
Here’s the crash course for Chairman Reyes and his colleagues:
Islam is divided into two primary theological camps: Shiite and Sunni. Essentially, the Shiites believe that there is no continuity (after the death of Mohammed) of divinely inspired political leadership. Only the heirs of the fourth Caliph (leader of the Muslim world or Caliphate — roughly analogous to a kingdom), Ali, were legitimate religious leaders. Moreover, when the 12th Imam (religious leader) disappeared in 931 A.D., they believed that brought an end to divine leadership (via humans).
The Sunni, by contrast, believe that there was an unbroken divinely inspired succession of Caliphs all the way into the 20th century, ceasing only with the post-World War I breakup of the Ottoman Empire.
You can now imagine how devastating this was for a devout Sunni — an end to an unbroken succession of leadership by God. Imagine, for a devout, fundamentalist Catholic an abrupt end to the apostolic succession, and the Pope and Cardinals vanishing completely like dust in the wind. Then imagine that the Pope was their Lord Temporal as well as Lord Spirtual.
And you’ve got some idea of the repercussions for Sunni fundamentalists.
And you can imagine the arguments between the Sunni and the Shiites.
Thus, the formation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a reactionary force in Egypt in 1928. Hating what they viewed as Western permissiveness/modernism/Christianity, they sought to overthrow that by force. Gradually, the Brotherhood nominally shifted to non-violence over the century to come. But not before birthing Hamas, and, effectively, al-Qaeda. These three, are, of course, Sunni.
The major Shiite terrorist group (depending on whether or not we define the nation of Iran as a terrorist group) is of course Hezbollah. A creature of Iran, operating in Palestine. Shiite to the core, it is nevertheless seemingly willing to work with Sunni extremists against ‘zionists’ (Jews) and ‘crusaders’ (westerners).
In the end, the Shiites are perhaps 10-15% of Islam; the Sunni almost all of the balance.
Here endeth the lesson.
-wolfe
Good summary. I had forgotten the details. Isn’t it pathetic how little we know about our enemies (and potential allies)? Has everyone bought into this nonsense of not needing to “understand” our enemies?
That is a very informative summary. When are you taking up a position of White House Advisor?
I wish I could find the post…
I recently read that, while hezbollah is a shiite Group, and that Iran does support them nominally, the soldiers of hezbollah are not likely being directed by iran. The Hezbollah movement seems to be primarily home grown though the aggressive actions of Isreal in lebanon, and these men and women are primarily motivated by thier own national defense. Iran is simply along for the ride, as they have similar goals with regards to isreal. It may well be that Iran is jumping on the hezbollah bandwagon, rather than being a puppet master?
Its hard to have sypathy for any government official that doesnt know whats going on in the real world… (Did I just eliminate all of them? Yup )
That said, try this PROVOCATIVE statement…
They are Muslims… their Beliefs are completely counter to my western christian culture. (Admittedly) Small groups of them are trying to kill us and destroy our culture. Every day we spend trying to “understand” them they kill more of us. How many Western Christians have to die before we are allowed to defend our lives, family, Culture and History?
John,
It’s interesting how you capitalize the words Muslim, Beliefs, Western Christians, Culture and History, but not lives and family. Just a note. But is it not the nature of being a christian to die?
I was trying to emphasize a “them Versus Us” Vibe in it. Good that you picked up on it…
To put it into a better perspective, this is how politicians think, not neccesarily voters or individuals. (hence the provocative part) This is how politicians frame EVERY stance they take, us v them, because it effectively marginalizes thier opponents, without ever having to produce a solution to a problem. In effect, it gets them elected. Go back and read some of the political statements made in any of the last few elections, you will see this mindset in pretty much every thing they say and do.
My own opinion is more along the lines of “prove to me you are not a threat, until then I will not trust you” in regards to muslims, ( and frankly, substitute Asshole for threat and you have how I treat everyone!)
Christianity is being threatened every day. The vast majority of the United states ( anywhere from 70-90% depending on the poll) citizens identify themselves as christian, yet small VOCAL groups use the freedom of religion clause of the constitution, coupled with the left wing ( freedom for all as long as you agree with me) policy of taking offense to everything under the sun to chip away at all the freedoms they disagree with, none of them seem to have any clue as to what true freedom is anymore. ( the right is not really better in this regard, but they tend to not create massive beauraucracies to limit these freedoms and are more inclined to shun and shame) And soon, (if not already) they will have created a society that is dead, uncaring and unproductive.
Teri, it is in the nature of being alive to die.
Your philosophy of life (prove your innocence because I’ve already presumed your guilt) does not align well with the founding principles of the US. Then again, the majority of the founding fathers were not Christian, either, but theist. The reinterpretation of their intent through a Christian lens is certainly widespread, but that doesn’t make it right.
Hey John, Happy holidays!
Yes, John ~ clever. And you’re right. It is the nature of being alive to be continually dying. But the root of christianity is based on the death of the One on the cross. So we should not think it strange, or even wrong, to die for His name’s sake.
Gee I love Xmas. I just went to Napolean Perdis cosmetics because I had a free $150 gift voucher and so I used it to the value of $145 and they’ve just called me to say they inadvertently gave me back the wrong gift voucher, which I see is for another $150. They want me to go back to the store and return it. What do you think? Should I take it back or go to another store and use it and get more free cosmetics? ha ha.
@John on Hezbollah — kind of a mix. They have been flexing their muscles in terms of independence of action — a lot of analysts believe that their burning off all those rockets was a strategic error that did not come remotely at the direction of Iran. But Iran’s been backing and funding them for a long time, so it’s hardly a case of “jumping on the bandwagon”. Your point on them not being a total puppet of Iran is, though, an interesting one that a lot of people are espousing. I’m undecided on the matter at present.
@Teri it’s actually appropriate to capitalize Muslim and Christian. One can debate whether or not John should have capitalized Belief, Western, Culture and History. (A native German speaker probably would have…).
Your point that he capitalized abstract things rather than the highly personal is an interesting one, however. Perhaps it’s one of those differences between men and women. And yes indeed on dying while living and on Christ.
@John wrote:
You can’t prove a negative. Your test is impossible to past. Now if you want to substitute “persuade me” or “demonstrate persuasively” for “prove”, then, sure.
That may seem like semantic nit-picking, but if one wishes to think clearly and objectively, I don’t think it is.
Not sure I agree with the first sentence. Islam certainly does need a Reformation and an Enlightenment though. The second (and most of the rest)? Yep.
I’d certainly agree with that. And the idea that Christianity is under attack — globally in a big way.
@Z wrote:
An interesting argument. Relevant if the person in question is resident in the US. Otherwise, not really.
@AllyC wrote
Heh. Funniest line this week I think (in context).
@Female wrote:
Well, you can guess my answer: no. On both moral and utilitarian grounds.
-wolfe
Wolfe, Iranian “revolutionary guard” troops were found dead in Israeli strikes during the Lebanon war. If Iran did not order the rocket attacks, they did not hesitate to help their brothers when they started.
Funny propaganda sidenote: Iranian TV tells it’s people that Coca-Cola is made from the blood of Arabs and is owned by Jews. Whatever it takes I guess for the Muslims to install cultural memes against the “feminine rambling drug”. Atleast their people won’t be obese from high fructose corn syrup.
@wolfe: ‘Small groups of them are trying to kill us and destroy our culture.’ I was addressing John’s PROVOCATIVE (his caps) statement, so felt that my presumption of his US residence was safe. Mea culpa if I was wrong.
John said, “And soon, (if not already) they will have created a society that is dead, uncaring and unproductive.”
Like Western Europe. George Soros, Bill Maher, etc. The chief money holders and idealogues of the left have said they want the US to become Europe. No GOD, no guns, no births. Death of European man.
The dark little secret of Bush’s “immigration policy” is that he sees mass influx of Hispanic Christians as a better alternative than an increasingly empty-souled white majority, or God forbid an Arab Islamic majority.
Amatuers talk politics, professionals talk demographics.
This answer is to SotS
@SotS Yep, they did indeed find dead Iranians. And there’s no question where those rockets came from: direct from Iranian army stocks in most cases. Iranian troops and probably technicians were there helping train Hezbollah: the question is, did Hezbollah have Iran’s go-ahead to fire off millions of dollars of rockets and fully reveal their capability to the West, thereby making it clear that Hezbollah was now a Shiite strategic threat to Israel?
As I said to John above, I’m undecided on the matter of to what degree they are totally under the control of Iran. There’s a tendency for created monsters to grow entirely out of control of the creator. That they are heavily backed by and significantly a creature of Iran there is no doubt.
Yeah, there’s more than a little truth to that. Be careful with lines like “chief money holders” though — people have used stuff like that in the past to smear Jews. And however wrong Israel (or some Jews and some Christians) may be on some issues, I think Israel’s on the right side of this conflict between the West and Islam.
Hmmm. You sure on that? Do you have a good source? I’m well aware of the blood libel being used (though not, I confess with respect to Coke in Iran). Moreover, why would the average Iranian much care about the ‘blood of Arabs’ — they’re sure willing to expend it en masse, along with their own Persian blood.
That said, the thrust of your propaganda sidenote is certainly correct; here’s what I found on Iranian TV and cola-like drinks:
Sheesh. Hundreds of thousands of billions a year for the Zionist shareholders of Coca-cola and Pepsi? So hundreds of trillions? Considering the total net income of Coke and Pepsi for ‘05 was a little over 5 billion, that means the sneaky Zionists own 6,000,000%, that’s right, 6 million percent of both companies. Impressive.
It’s always irritating to see journalists — even in ‘free’ countries make such asinine mathematical errors. In this case, at least it’s funny. And sad. And disturbing, considering these guys will be nuclear soon at this rate.
That’s an incredibly paranoid and cynical view. That said, there’s a kernel of truth in there somewhere. I don’t think you’re really right on it, but it would astound me if the matter’s never come up in White House policy discussions. (I think Bush simply buys into multiculturalism to a significant degree: his perception of Hispanics is of wealthy, educated ones like his sister-in-law and nieces and nephews.)
And personally, I don’t care about a flood of Hispanic immigration as long as a) they speak English, and b) immigrate legally.
Have you read Mark Steyn’s book “America Alone”? If not, go to your local library, and reserve a copy. Get them to send one in for you if they don’t have it. He talks about exactly this sort of thing, and does so rather more eloquently than you or I.
-wolfe
I don’t use codewords when I critique Jews. Some Jews are big givers to AmeriLeft causes but some other Jews(Likud?) are big givers to AmeriRight causes. Some Hollywood anglos are big givers to the left too. No one is above critique.
There’s nothing cynical about the Bush remark. Bush is a half-multiculturalist. He doesn’t care what color you are, he sees Christiandom as “The West”. So with Hispanics he can bring in more Christ bretheren and bring in slave wage workers and get lots of business support.
Paleo-conservatives see “The European Race” as the “The West” and don’t care what religion you are as long as you’re a white capitalist. This movement has been dead for a good while.
@Wolfe
Yes, My test is impossible to pass…
@Wolfe (argh… your blog ate my follow up! And my wife just went into labour… Ill post a follow up in a bit…)
@Zogmama
The president, Congress and the House of representatives do not align well with the principles of the founders of the US. ( and thats not meant to be pithy, its just a frightening statement of fact!)
(What? The contractions are 8 minutes apart… I have a few minutes before the babysitter gets here!)
@John good luck! I hope everything went well. Do let us know.
-wolfe
Ambien….
Ambien online. Ambien overnight. Ambien side effects….