Ted Stevens thinks al-Qaeda is not a Sunni organization
Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and the have had a dismal relationship over the years. It all boiled over this week when he sat down for an interview with the editors of that Alaska newspaper. He slammed the editors for conspiring against him. But that was not the most jaw-dropping moment of the interview.
When asked about the al Qaeda organization, Stevens was not convinced they were Sunni:
Q. What do you see as the way forward (in Iraq)?
A. Patience, which the pressdoesn't seem to have much of. (U.S. military commander in Iraq Gen.David) Petraeus has all the qualification of Eisenhower. As a matter offact I think if he succeeds he will be an Eisenhower.
The great difficulty is people who say "Pullout" don't have an answer when you ask, "What will you do with a newIraq that's really al-Qaida with the oil production? ... What's youranswer going to be to what they want to do to the United States?
Q. Isn't al-Qaida a Sunniorganization in a Shiite country? Are you suggesting the Sunnis aregoing to end up back in charge of Iraq?
A. I'm not exactly certainwho's going to be in charge of Iraq. I don't know if we pull out. And,by the way, I don't think it's necessarily a Sunni organization. It hasstrength in so many countries now. It's getting a lot of its money fromportions of the Saudi and other oil producers. That's really sort of apayment to them to avoid the trouble they're causing elsewhere, such asin Iraq. ...
What a head-scratching statement, if I ever heard one. In arguing that al Qaeda isn't Sunni, he cited that Saudi Arabia gave them money. One problem there, Ted. Saudi Arabia is a Sunni monarchy. You just disproved yourself.
And just when you thought Stevens might stop talking and call it a day, he blamed Bill Clinton for Bush's inability to establish security in Iraq:
(Someone) was quoted as saying we ought havesent 300,000 people instead of 30,000 people (in the surge). You're notgoing to like this, but Clinton kept cutting down the numbers of ourpeople in the Army and the Air Force. Cutting, cutting, cutting,cutting. We ended up with fewer wings, fewer divisions. We don't countdivisions any more; we count brigades because we don't have manydivisions. Anyone who says (we should have sent) 300,000 people justdoesn't know the statistics.
So it was because of Bill Clinton that President Bush could not send even more troops to Iraq? I don't think so. But if that was the case, then thank you Bill!
The question is if this guy really KNOWs what is sunni and what is Shia? That is the first issue, the second is that he says "It's getting a lot of its money from portions of the Saudi and other oil producers" which means opening the door for "Iran is supporting Al-Qaida" later on.
He is as dumb as most US politicians.
Posted by: | 2007.08.17 at 03:51 AM