Fail: Washington Post Writer Mocks Palin For Getting Name Of Iraqi Politician Right

Check out E.J. Dionne mocking Sarah Palin on “The Diane Rehm Show” in Washington DC for her “superficial” knowledge of middle eastern issues because she said “Talabani” was working with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
A caller named Tom calls in and notes that Palin said Talabani was working with Maliki and chastises her for saying that our enemy in Afghanistan, the Taliban, is working with our friend Maliki in Iraq.

Tom: I just wonder why not more has been made of the statement by Palin during the debate last night that “Maliki and the Talabani”–this is a quote from the transcript–”also in working with us are knowing again that we are getting closer and closer to the point of victory.” The Talibani obviously are our absolute enemy and have been since 9/11; Maliki, our central ally in Iraq. This to me is a tremendous blunder, revealing a very superficial familiarity with these sorts of terms.
Rehm: Thanks for calling, Tom. . . . E.J.?
Dionne: I think that “superficial” is absolutely the right word for the knowledge or the lack of knowledge Palin showed yesterday. I’m glad the caller raised that one, and I suspect there is going to be a scouring of that transcript for exactly that sort of gaffe. That has echoes of some of the stuff she said to Katie Couric.

Of course, the person Palin was talking about is Jalal Talabani. The current President of Iraq. She wasn’t talking about the Taliban.
I think even the most casual observers of the goings-on in the middle east know the difference between the Taliban and the President of Iraq.
So…whose knowledge is “superficial” again?