"Gotcha journalism" is generally unfair and unwarranted. However, every once in a while this "cheap shot" tactic is substantively and painfully necessary. Such is the case with Jeff Stein's work recently at the Congressional Quarterly.
Stein asked a handful of senior government officials leading U.S. antiterrorism efforts some basic questions about, say, the differences between a Sunni and a Shiite, which branch Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda follow, or which sect dominates in Saudi Arabia and Iran. It would be akin to asking top officials at the Department of Health & Human Services the differences between Medicare and Medicaid.
Well, neither the top official at the FBI in charge of national security nor two members of Congress chairing House Intelligence subcommittees could answer these questions. Nobody can know everything, of course, but is it too much to ask that people in charge of specific functions know something about them? Knowldege and the curiosity that comes with it are -- or should be -- force multipliers.
Stein asked a handful of senior government officials leading U.S. antiterrorism efforts some basic questions about, say, the differences between a Sunni and a Shiite, which branch Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda follow, or which sect dominates in Saudi Arabia and Iran. It would be akin to asking top officials at the Department of Health & Human Services the differences between Medicare and Medicaid.
Well, neither the top official at the FBI in charge of national security nor two members of Congress chairing House Intelligence subcommittees could answer these questions. Nobody can know everything, of course, but is it too much to ask that people in charge of specific functions know something about them? Knowldege and the curiosity that comes with it are -- or should be -- force multipliers.