Reyes intelligence flap continues

Houston Chronicle:

It's hardly the way Texan Silvestre Reyes wanted to ascend to the chairmanship of the influential House Intelligence Committee.

But the world of bloggers buzzed and critics flapped Tuesday about a botched pop quiz that raised questions about the El Paso Democrat's understanding of the al-Qaida terrorist network and other Islamist extremists.

Reyes, who takes the helm of the committee in January and has served on the panel since 2001, didn't know that al-Qaida was a Sunni organization, and couldn't pin down Hezbollah's Shiite affiliations, during an interview last week with Congressional Quarterly's national security editor.

The differences between the Sunni and Shiites are more than semantics. Islam's 1,400-year-old rift is playing out in deadly fashion across Iraq, where ordinary citizens are caught in a crossfire between insurgents, terrorists and militias motivated by politics and religion.

Conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday that Reyes' lapse was proof of the Democrats' inattention to national security.

"Do you think the Democrats are concerned about al-Qaida and Hezbollah?" he said, contending that Democrats care more about investigating President Bush and his anti-terrorism policies than going after terrorists.

...

The sad fact is that Reyes is probably typical of Democrats on national security and many are much worse. When he was first appointed I noted my opinion that he was not very smart. The interview questions demonstrated his ignorance, but his voting decisions on the war his lack of intelligence. However, now Reyes supports more troops in Iraq, which is probably what the President is going to recommend. That is why I say, Pelosi could have done worse and if he is chased from the job by this flap, she probably will.

Jack Kelly adds a little Sun Tzu to the debate:

...

Sun Tzu was a Chinese general who died in 496 B.C. His "Art of War" is the oldest surviving treatise on military strategy. It is still considered the best by most strategists today.

"If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles," Sun Tzu wrote. "If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

...

Gen. Abizaid knows the enemy probably better than anyone. Unfortunately some of the politicians have lost patience with his approach to defeating the enemy. Perhaps it is because they do not know the enemy.