Richard Engel of NBC News

I don't mind changing mind about people I have criticized when confronted with evidence. I saw Richard Engel on HBO yesterday. He said that he is studying Arabic: I hope that means he is willing to devote years to the endeavor (I remember when Ethan Bronner told me that Robert Worth of the New York Times will take "a year off" to study Arabic. One year of Arabic study will permit you to order a falafil sandwich in halting Arabic). He was rather sensical and reasonable and spoke (with some hesitation but also with sincerity) about the people of Gaza and their suffering. I hope that he takes his stint seriously and learn about the people and about the crimes of Israel and the crimes of Arab (and Iranian) regimes. Yet, somebody told me he once said that nobody should question the knowledge of US troops in Iraq. I have a student at California State University, Stanislaus who had served in Iraq. And we often joke about the level of American ignorance about Iraq and the Middle East. My student decided to study the Middle East after he returned from Iraq. And Fareed Zakaria was also on the same Bill Maher's show. I could see the viewers cringing when Zakaria would make an attempt at humor.