Howdy softjeans-ga,
The New York Times article "Dreaming of Democracy" written by George Packer
as published on March 2, 2003, appears to be the source of the statement.
You have to go to page 10 of the article to read the following passage.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/02/magazine/02IRAQ.html
"Bush is a man who has never shown much curiosity about the world. When he
met with Makiya and two other Iraqis in January, I was told by someone not
present, the exiles spent a good portion of the time explaining to the
president that there are two kinds of Arabs in Iraq, Sunnis and Shiites."
If anyone were to know something on the conflict in Iraq, it would be Mr.
Packer. The following is from the "Michael Kelly Award" web page on him.
http://kellyaward.com/mk_award_popup/packer_g.html
"Twenty years from now, students looking for a definitive account of the
troubled aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq will no doubt turn to George
Packer?s deeply reported 20,000-word piece in The New Yorker."
If you need any clarification, please feel free to ask.
Search strategy:
Google search on: Bush Sunnis Shiites Iraq brief differences
://www.google.com/search?q=Bush+Sunnis+Shiites+Iraq+brief+differences
Google search on: "George Packer" Times biography
://www.google.com/search?q=%22George+Packer%22+Times+biography
Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher |
Clarification of Answer by
denco-ga
on
18 Aug 2005 18:36 PDT
It seems there were several others in the Bush administration that did not
know the differences between the Sunnis and Shiites. The following excerpts
are from an Associated Press article posted on the San Francisco Chronicle's
SFGate.com web site and dated Sunday, June 19, 2005.
The article was titled "FBI Didn't Seek to Hire Terror Experts" and was
written by Associated Press writer John Solomon.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/06/19/national/w130828D05.DTL&type=printable
"Those who have held the bureau's top terrorism-fighting jobs since Sept. 11
often said in their testimony that they ? and many they have promoted since ?
had no significant terrorism or Middle East experience. Some could not even
explain the difference between Sunnis and Shiites, the two primary groups of
Muslims.
...
When asked whether he [Deputy Assistant Director John Lewis], as the FBI's
former counterterrorism chief, could describe the differences between Shiite
and Sunni Muslims, Watson answered, 'Not technically, no.'"
Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher
|
