"Can you tell a Sunni from a Shiite?" is the famous question used by reporter Jeff Stein to expose the ignorance of some U.S. counterterrorism officials about basic issues related to the Middle East.

In a book to be published next summer, Stein, who is Congressional Quarterly's national security editor, will expand from columns he wrote after quizzing dumbfounded members of Congress and other officials about their knowledge of the Middle East.

"Americans are dying because of these differences...I was not asking them to be experts; I just wanted them to know who was on which side, and they couldn't answer some of the basic questions," Stein told ABC News. 

It all started with an op-ed published in "The New York Times" last October that created a buzz in the media.

A few months later, Stein asked the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Sgt. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, whether al Qaeda was Sunni or Shiite. "Al Qaeda, they have both," Reyes said. "Predominantly -- probably Shiite," he added. Wrong answer, of course. Al Qaeda is strictly Sunni.

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"Members of the intelligence committee, mind you, are paid $165,200 a year to know more than basic facts about our foes in the Middle East," commented Stein in his column, which was published on Congressional Quarterly's Web site in December.

"If you are a manager of a baseball team...how can you manage the team if you didn't know the difference between the pitcher and the catcher?" remarks Stein.

The book's publisher, Hyperion editor Zareen Jaffery, noticed Stein's first articles and now considers the ignorance he exposed a key contributor to the ongoing problems in Iraq. "These issues go to the very basis of why our country is still there. If you don't put any effort into learning it, how do you expect us to get out?"

Although he is now well-known for his pop quizzes, Stein expects his second round of interviews to produce the same uninformed responses.  "But now they're going to prepare for the interview?" we asked him. "If my showing up at the door will make them learn, it would be a huge capstone of my career," he answered.

Differences Between Sunnis and Shiites

The split between Islam's two main sects was created right after Prophet Mohammed died in the year 632 because of disagreements over succession. One group -- later known as the Sunnis -- believed the leader of Muslims should be anybody who is worthy of that position and particularly supported the Prophet's best friend Abu Bakr. The other group -- later known as the Shiites -- argued that the leader should be a descendant of the Prophet's family and supported his cousin and son-in-law Ali. The Shiites lost, and Abu Bakr became the first caliph.

The two sects believe in the same book, the Qur'an, and revere the same prophet. Both believe in the five pillars of Islam, which include the belief in one God, daily prayer, fasting during the month of Ramadan, alms giving and the pilgrimage to Mecca. While there are some religious differences, -- most importantly Shiite's veneration of the Imams -- the main conflict between Sunnis and Shiites is political rather than theological. The majority of Muslims in the world today are Sunnis.

Now Test Your Knowledge of Sunnis and Shiites.