WHAT RABBIT HOLE HAVE I FALLEN DOWN?
It turns out, as I secretly thought but couldn't bring myself to believe, that many officials involved in counter-intelligence have no clue whom they are actually fighting: they don't know basic information that the majority of my students who wrote a paper on this last semester know. Essentially, they don't know the difference between Sunnis and Shiites. This passage an op-ed article in the NY Times on 10/17/2006. (I tried to post the link, but the site wouldn't let me--but if you go to http://www.nytimes.com and search the archives, you can find the article titled "Can You Tell a Sunni From A Shiite?")
As the author pointedly notes in the preface of his article,
In the following section, the interviewer and author is Jeff Stein,the national security editor at Congressional Quarterly. The official being interviewed is Willie Hulon, chief of the FBI's new national security branch.
Thank god he got the second one right, although it's of little consolation.
In the 15th century, Machiavelli wrote that as important as it is for a leader to train his troops to fight, it is as equally important that he read histories. How can anyone conduct intelligence without knowing whom he is fighting? And more importantly, whom he is NOT fighting?
It seems that six centuries ago, the thinking was a little more aligned with reality.
Double Yikes.
It turns out, as I secretly thought but couldn't bring myself to believe, that many officials involved in counter-intelligence have no clue whom they are actually fighting: they don't know basic information that the majority of my students who wrote a paper on this last semester know. Essentially, they don't know the difference between Sunnis and Shiites. This passage an op-ed article in the NY Times on 10/17/2006. (I tried to post the link, but the site wouldn't let me--but if you go to http://www.nytimes.com and search the archives, you can find the article titled "Can You Tell a Sunni From A Shiite?")
As the author pointedly notes in the preface of his article,
British counterterrorism officials responsible for Northern Ireland know the difference between the Catholics [IRA] and the Protestants [UDA] [both the battling parties' respective paramilitary groups].
In the following section, the interviewer and author is Jeff Stein,the national security editor at Congressional Quarterly. The official being interviewed is Willie Hulon, chief of the FBI's new national security branch.
At the end of a long interview, I asked Willie Hulon, chief of the bureau's new national security branch, whether he thought that it was important for a man in his position to know the difference between Sunnis and Shiites. "Yes, sure, it's right to know the difference," he said. "It's important to know who your targets are."
That was a big advance over 2005. So next I asked him if he could tell me the difference. He was flummoxed. "The basics goes back to their beliefs and who they were following," he said. "And the conflicts between the Sunnis and the Shia and the difference between who they were following."
O.K., I asked, trying to help, what about today? Which one is Iran -- Sunni or Shiite? He thought for a second. "Iran and Hezbollah," I prompted. "Which are they?"
He took a stab: "Sunni."
Wrong.
Al Qaeda? "Sunni."
Right.
Thank god he got the second one right, although it's of little consolation.
In the 15th century, Machiavelli wrote that as important as it is for a leader to train his troops to fight, it is as equally important that he read histories. How can anyone conduct intelligence without knowing whom he is fighting? And more importantly, whom he is NOT fighting?
It seems that six centuries ago, the thinking was a little more aligned with reality.
Double Yikes.
posted by mariestaad at 4:26 PM
3 Comments:
Wow, I only got 14 flags right on your flag test, I'm disappointed.
I'm really not surprised that analysts know little about the intricacies of different factions of Islam, although the comparison with Northern Ireland could be an appropriate one to draw. If I recall correctly, I read an article earlier saying that the FBI had a grand total of 3 agents who had the ability to understand Arabic... so, they pull aside muslim women at airports every time they pass through as part of the "war on terror" (aka racial profiling, have a look at the blog "a-mother-from-gaza" about her travelling experiences), but yet can't even understand the language.
So instead they initiate draconian laws saying that anyone anywhere can be taken away to detention centers indefinitely... I wonder if the Nazis started with legislation of that sort?
BTW it's good to be back here!
Nice to have you back, misneach! Yes, I had posted earlier about the wretched lack of language skills in the U.S., and about how a professor from Egypt had offered to teach Arabic (without compensation since he was in another department--not Foreign Languages) and he was turned down by the department. Disgraceful since he was generously offering his time--and it would have been a great deal of time! He felt that the U.S. needed more translators for business as well as the military.
The Nazis had a clear agenda--to first deport jews, and then to systematically eradicate them, along with homosexuals and other marginalized and therefore extremely vunerable groups, when deportation was "too slow."
The U.S. doesn't have this sort of agenda. Deutschland's Nazi leaders were xenophobic and jingoistic beyond the pale. And the U.S. isn't driven by the organized and hate-fueled ideology that the Nazis were consumed by. But that doesn't mean we aren't jingoistic and scary.
p.s. 14 flags! That's awesome! Ten flags was current record. Most people get 3 or 4.
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