If you put stuff like this in a movie, no one would believe it: Tristero at Hullabaloo, in a post called Scandalous Ignorance, points to an op-ed in the NYT that notes how few of our decision-makers even know the difference between a Sunni and Shiite. Among the folk unclear on the concept is the Vice Chairman of the House intelligence subcommittee on technical and tactical intelligence. Yes, the subcommittee on technical and tactical intelligence.
Tristero’s explanation is that these guys are not curious or smart enough to find out about the enemy. Digby, though, has a more plausible and more chilling explanation in Beautiful Minds: they were reading books all right, or rather all read the same book, but it was a very nutty (and discredited) book.
Either way…
Who cares. Nobody’s ever explained to me the difference between a shiite and a presbyterian, but I know which one doesn’t run around with an AK-47 and bombs strapped to his chest.
Superior knowledge not key to peace in Iraq. Superior will.