Can You Tell a Sunni From a Shiite?

[lsanderson]

Can You Tell a Sunni From a Shiite?
By JEFF STEIN

Washington

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?”

A “gotcha” question? Perhaps. But if knowing your enemy is the most basic rule of war, I don’t think it’s out of bounds. And as I quickly explain to my subjects, I’m not looking for theological explanations, just the basics: 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? More

(Behind the (in)famous Times firewall)

Comments

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

One of the nice things about Mac. is that I can pick up a free copy of the Times every day.

This sort of thing, the lack of understanding even today, enrages me. There is a real threat out there, it's not really the threat we're fighting, and the people who are supposed to defend us are ignorant.

[thirdworld.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that. It's worse than I thought, and I thought it was pretty bad.

But....

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

think of the cost to our soul and of all the starving typesetters in NYC!

Re: But....

[(Anonymous)]

No no ... Mac buys perhaps 200 copies of the Times and puts them out for free distribution!

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

I just read the paper version of this. Upsetting. Furthermore, while the analogy to the Ireland situation is apt, the details are different. Protestants and Catholics did not have THEOLOGICAL views on the governance of Ireland. The religious distinctions between Sunnis and Shiites, however, do govern their political views ... sigh ...