Incoming House intelligence chief botches easy intel quiz

[Amianthus]

Monday, December 11, 2006
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, who incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped to head the Intelligence Committee when the Democrats take over in January, failed a quiz of basic questions about al Qaeda and Hezbollah, two of the key terrorist organizations the intelligence community has focused on since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

When asked by CQ National Security Editor Jeff Stein whether al Qaeda is one or the other of the two major branches of Islam -- Sunni or Shiite -- Reyes answered "they are probably both," then ventured "Predominantly -- probably Shiite."

That is wrong. Al Qaeda was founded by Osama bin Laden as a Sunni organization and views Shiites as heretics.

Reyes could also not answer questions put by Stein about Hezbollah, a Shiite group on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations that is based in Southern Lebanon.

Stein's column about Reyes' answers was published on CQ's Web site Friday evening.

In an interview with CNN, Stein said he was "amazed" by Reyes' lack of what he considers basic information about two of the major terrorists organizations.

"If you're the baseball commissioner and you don't know the difference between the Yankees and the Red Sox, you don't know baseball," Stein said. "You're not going to have the respect of the people you work with."

While Stein said Reyes is "not a stupid guy," his lack of knowledge said it could hamper Reyes' ability to provide effective oversight of the intelligence community, Stein believes.

"If you don't have the basics, how do you effectively question the administration?" he asked. "You don't know who is on first."

Stein said Reyes is not the only member of the House Intelligence Committee that he has interviewed that lacked what he considered basic knowledge about terrorist organizations.

"It kind of disgusts you, because these guys are supposed to be tending your knitting," Stein said. "Most people are rightfully appalled."

Pelosi picked Reyes over fellow Californian Rep. Jane Harman, who had been the Intelligence Committee's ranking member, and Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida, who had been impeached as a federal judge after being accused of taking a bribe.

Calls from CNN to Reyes' office asking for reaction to Stein's column have not been returned.

Full story from CQ
--CNN.com Senior Political Producer Scott Anderson
Article

[hnumpah]

Well, let's see, if the place I worked hired a new office manager, would they expect them to know everything about all the prescription drugs we handle? Or would they be more concerned that they knew how to handle people, and run the office efficiently?

Actually, I would imagine it would be a bit of both, though they would lean more heavily toward being able to actually run the office effectively than they would to knowing the difference between heparin and haldol.

[Mucho]

Sheeet- I am surprised the Bushidiot didnt make Reyes the CIA chief already. He is on a par with the choices he has made before.

[Amianthus]

Sheeet- I am surprised the Bushidiot didnt make Reyes the CIA chief already. He is on a par with the choices he has made before.

So, Pelosi and Bush make similar choices?

[Lanya]

He'd better read, study, and learn the basics pretty fast. 

For starters, he could read http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/005303.html
'Sectarian cleansing, very familiar from the ex Yugoslavia conflicts, ramps up in earnest. Update: Spencer is right. This is how genocide begins.'

******
http://toohotfortnr.blogspot.com/2006/12/i-see-darkness.html

................
It's worse than that. In Yugoslavia & the former Soviet states, there was a sense of identity that didn't imply anything for those who didn't share it. If you are a Croat, you're not a Serb. If you're a Georgian, you're not a Russian.

Iraq is worse. As best as I can tell, there is an Iraqi identity, and a deeply felt one. It just means something different than we understand it, typically. If you are a Sunni, you believe the repository of the true Iraq exists within and reduces to a Sunni entity. If you're a Shiite, you believe the same thing about the Shiite relationship to Iraq-ness. As a result, the competing sectarian claimant isn't merely a security threat. It's an existential, metaphyisical challenge to the identity you claim. This construct, as best as I can tell, carries the most explanatory freight for the question of why reconciliation is a non-starter. In other words, this is how genocides begin.

posted by spencerackerman @ 7:16 AM

[yellow_crane]

Puts into perspective at least one notion put forth as a solution to Iraq--by Sen./Pres. Hopeful Joe Biden, who thinks not only should the country be divided into three distinct units, but also  that the oil reserves be divided up accordingly!

I notice that Baker the Presumptuous took a moment in reflecting publically about the panel's list of solutions to state specifically for the cameras--Texas eyes twinkling beneath a leveled brow--that dividiing the country was just not a good idea.

This is one issue Baker and all the Bushes agree on, as well as every roughneck up to the corporate level.

[Brassmask]

I don't know why this is even relevant to any conservative/gop-type person.  Bush has been CONDUCTING the war for 4 years nearly and doesn't know crap.

It is unfortunate however, that the DEMS have chosen such an uninformed goober for this position.