As discussed on this very site, one-time heir apparent for the Chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) didn't know that al Qaeda was a Sunni organization, and made himself into a national joke as a result, leading to calls from both sides to pass him over for the Intel chair (which he of course was).  Some choice comments about the incident worth considering:

CBN's "Terrorism Analyst" Erick Stakelbeck (who may work for Pat Robertson but still thinks it isn't a capital crime to read the Koran):

Call me crazy, but shouldn't the chairman of a powerful government committee devoted to intelligence on our enemies be an expert on such matters? Especially more than five years after 9/11. Apparently Reyes has never heard the phrase, "Know your enemy."

...

In short, Reyes - and any other elected official, Republican or Democrat - who doesn't know the distinction between Sunnis and Shiites at this advanced stage of the War on Terror is simply unfit to assume a leading post dealing with national intelligence. Is it too much to ask for Reyes and his ilk in Washington to do a simple Google search, or perhaps read some verses from the Koran during one of their long weekends?

The obviously moderate (and in no way racist or obsessively paranoid) Robert Spencer at "Jihad Watch" (like BayWatch, but with less revealing outfits, I suppose), had this:

Congressman Reyes demonstrates a cluelessness that is common to both sides of the aisle, and which could be remedied easily by regular reading of Jihad Watch. Congressman, give me a call. I'd be happy to meet with you and explain this whole terrorism thing to you. I know it's tiresome, but as chairman of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, you might find it handy to know a thing or two about this jihad business. Uh, yes, Congressman, that's "gee-hod," not "jye-had."

...

Shi'ite, Sunni, hell -- he knows they want to harm Americans, and that's all that matters, right?

Congressman, go rent a copy of the movie Patton. Note the use Patton made of Rommel's book of military strategy. Consider carefully possible parallels in our own day.

Terence P. Jeffrey, editor of Human Events and columnist at the right-wing Townhall.com, offered this:

How can Pelosi put someone this out of touch with the facts about al-Qaida in charge of congressional oversight of the U.S. intelligence community in the midst of a war with al-Qaida?

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"We rely too much on others to bring information to us, and too often don't understand what is reported back because we don't understand the context of what we are told," an intelligence analyst told the ISG.

Is someone who didn't know as of last week that al-Qaida is a Sunni organization the right person to fix this? Nancy Pelosi should find another chairman for House Intelligence.

And the list goes on, as you can imagine (I'm just tired of looking at archives of right-wing blogs and columnists, or else I'd keep going).

Got a feel for all that condescention? Got a sense of outrage at the idea of someone not well-versed in the dynamics of sectarian tensions currently ripping apart large sections of the world being in charge of overseeing our efforts to combat extremist ideology based on that sectarian split? All angry that such an important task could be entrusted to someone who doesn't even know the most basic facts about al Qaeda and Iran? Okay, good.

Now read what Giuliani had to say on the subject at a recent house party in New Hampshire, as he runs for the office of President of the United States, the commander-in-chief of all US armed forces and the principal leader in US foreign policy:

As for Iran, Mr. Giuliani said that "in the long term," it might be "more dangerous than Iraq."

He then casually lumped Iran with Al Qaeda. "Their movement has already displayed more aggressive tendencies by coming here and killing us," he said.

Mr. Giuliani was asked in an interview to clarify that, inasmuch as Iran had no connection to the Sept. 11 attacks. Further, most of its people are Shiites, whereas Al Qaeda is an organization of Sunnis.

"They have a similar objective," he replied, "in their anger at the modern world."

In other words, he said, they hate America.

And I'm sure we can expect those right-wing commentators to chime in any minute now about how this lack of knowledge so long after 9/11 shows Rudy Giuliani to be unfit to serve in such an important office...

...yep, any minute now...

...anyone? Anyone at all?

 (hat tip to Greg Sargent at TPM)