Dumb? Or Willfully Deceptive?

An allegation that a high-ranking al-Qaida member was an officer in Saddam Hussein's private militia may have resulted from confusion over Iraqi names, say White House officials. The confusion was started by one of Wolfowitz's neocons in the Office of Special Plans, Christopher Carney.

An al-Qaeda employee in Malaysia, named Ahmad Hikmat Shakir Azzawi, was confused with an Iraqi intelligence agent named Lt. Col. Hikmat Shakir Ahmad.

Juan Cole points out that from an Arab point of view, the names are very dissimilar, as anyone with a sound understanding of Arab culture would know:

"The family name (here, nisba) of the al-Qaeda guy in Malaysia is Azzawi.

The family name of the guy in Iraqi intelligence is Ahmad.

Do you notice how they are not the same?

The personal or first name of the al-Qaeda guy is Ahmad.

The personal or first name of the Iraqi intelligence agent is Hikmat.

Do you notice how it is not the same?

So, Ahmad Azzawi is not Hikmat Ahmad. See how easy that is?"

Cole says this is just another example of neocon idiocy:

"Mr. Carney, Mr. Lehman, journalist Stephen Hayes, Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, and all the other persons who gave a moment's thought to the idea that these two are the same person, based on these names, have wasted precious moments of their lives and have helped kill over 800 US servicemen, over an elementary error deriving from complete ignorance of Arabic and Arab culture."

Was this plain dumb ignorance, or willfully ignorant manipulation of facts to support Bush's Iraq-Al Quaeda fantasies (the reason why the neocon Office Of Special Plans was created)? You decide.