Attention, congressional staff members on both sides of the aisle:

Please have your bosses read this Dean Barnett Sunni-Shia Cheat Sheet over the holidays in order to avoid another Jeff Stein gotcha moment.

While you’re at it, The Truth About Muhammad would make an informative gift for the clueless.

Bryan Preston offers his recommended reading list here.

One additon to Bryan’s list: I’m reading The Shia Revival by Vali Masr. Also must-buy for Congress.

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Debbie Schlussel e-mails a note about Barnett’s FAQ: “I only browsed it, but Lebanon is majority Shia. He incorrectly says only Iraq and Iran are majority Shia. He also says the Alawis are 10% of Syria. That’s a very high number. The real number is far, far smaller.”

Reader Seamus: “Regarding Debbie Schlussel’s email saying Lebanon is majority Shia Muslims: according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon#Lebanese_People), Christians make
up the largest ethnic group in Lebanon at 39%. Followed by Shia Muslims
35%, and Sunni at 21%. So, perhaps a technicality but I believe Dean Barnett was correct.”