The Shi'ite-Sunni Divide and Our Ignorance

"My friend Jeff Stein had a deeply disturbing op-ed piece in the New York Times a few days ago on the inability of senior law enforcement and intelligence officials, along with senior members of Congress-all dealing extensively with the Islamist terrorism issues-to tell Sunnis from Shi'ites.
Many could not say for certain if bin Laden and al Qaeda were Sunni, or whether Iran and Hezbollah were Shi'ite or which group the majority of Iraqis belong to.

He wasn't even asking basic theological differences, rather, just for a basic understanding of who was where on the chess board. This is akin to fighting a war against Christianity and not knowing, several years into the conflict, whether the Pope is Catholic or Protestant."
CT Blog