Opinion: Reyes doesn’t know Shiite: Incoming House intel chairman flunks easy quiz about Middle East
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Q: Is al Qaeda a Sunni or Shia movement?
A: Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), who will become House Intelligence Committee chairman in January, doesn’t know.
And he’s still more knowledgeable than two Republicans interviewed by Jeff Stein in this Congressional Quarterly article. A highlight:
And Hezbollah? I asked him. What are they? “Hezbollah. Uh, Hezbollah...” He laughed again, shifting in his seat. “Why do you ask me these questions at five o’clock? Can I answer in Spanish? Do you speak Spanish?” “Poquito,” I said—a little. “Poquito?! “ He laughed again. “Go ahead,” I said, talk to me about Sunnis and Shia in Spanish. Reyes: “Well, I, uh....” I apologized for putting him “on the spot a little.” But I reminded him that the people who have killed thousands of Americans on U.S. soil and in the Middle East have been front page news for a long time now. It’s been 23 years since a Hezbollah suicide bomber killed over 200 U.S. military personnel in Beirut, mostly Marines. Hezbollah, a creature of Iran, is close to taking over in Lebanon. Reports say they are helping train Iraqi Shiites to kill Sunnis in the spiralling civil war. “Yeah,” Reyes said, rightly observing, “but . . . it’s not like the Hatfields and the McCoys. It’s a heck of a lot more complex. “And I agree with you — we ought to expend some effort into understanding them. But speaking only for myself, it’s hard to keep things in perspective and in the categories.”
In a followup, Reyes assures the nation that he is ‘acutely aware of al Qaeda’s desire to harm Americans.’ So breathe easy, and if Rep. Reyes is on your Xmas list, send him a copy of Valli Nasr’s The Shia Revival.
Courtesy of Little Green Footballs.