Take two minutes to get smarter about the Middle East

I'm almost too embarrassed to share my ignorance, but maybe it'll help you over the learning hump with me. Regardless of your views on what's going on over there, get your basic facts straight via what every American should know about the Middle East, a great list complied by Daniel Miessler.

After starting off with this preamble, he goes right to the list of basics:

For example, frighteningly few know the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and most think the words “Arab” and “Muslim” are pretty much interchangeable. They aren’t. So here’s a very brief primer aimed at raising the level of knowledge about the region to an absolute minimum

This should be required learning for everyone. American or not.