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Friday, December 15, 2006

Pop Quiz from PB via MY

In the wake of Stein-gate, I've been trying to think of other questions we should ask politicians. Peter Beinart has suggestions:

Whenever government officials show up on television, interviewers should throw in a Stein question or two. For instance, who is the supreme leader of Iran?
M. Khameini
Who was Mohammed Mossadeq? Prime minister of Iran & leader of the national front. Nationalised oil wells. Said Shah's role as commander in chief was symbolic. Overthrown in coup led by Shah supported by CIA. W Churchill by not a Eden in favor of coup.
What is Bashar Assad's religion?
Moslem and, in particular, Alawite. This is a small sect. A source of stability for B Assad and dad is that Alawite's hold positions near power and all know they must hang together or they will hang separately.
Which European country colonized Lebanon?
France I think.
Can you name an Iraqi ethnic group besides Arabs and Kurds?
There are also Turkomen. Also a few Jews.

For most politicos, passing up an appearance on "Meet the Press" or "Larry King" is inconceivable, and so they'll do what Reyes is hopefully doing now: study.

Please grade me in comments.

OK now I have read MY's answers. I did better than he did. He named ex pres M Khameni as supreme leader. However, I wrote M. not A. as first initial of supreme religious guide Ali Khameini. I did not guess that his first name was Melvin.

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