'you may have invented algebra'

Agreed man, who gives a crap about what those *beep* think and they have the nerve to call arabs ignorant and close-minded.

I assume he meant "you" as in "you, the Muslims", rather than "you, the Arabs". But then again, the character is a right-wing redneck imperialist so I doubt he would know the difference between Iranians and Arabs anyway. Hoffman was more than once excoriated for his ignorance of the Middle East.

"The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor."
- Voltaire

I think Hoffmann knew full well who invented algebra - it's just that he regards all Middle Eastern Muslims as being part of the same group and this comment is simply demonstrating his arrogance. Or, of course, it is possible that he really didn't know and is demonstrating his ignorance as well as arrogance, but, either way, the comment is telling you more about Hoffmann than Scott, who didn't write the screenplay (or the original novel) anyway.

arabs, persian, afghans, palesinians, all the same gene pool

Right, but I have often heard algebra attributed as a muslim achievement, not specifically Persian.

Most Americans think Iranians are Arabs so it makes sense character wise no matter how you look at


I was born in the house my father built

wiki disagrees (with both you and the character):

In Renaissance Europe, he was considered the original inventor of algebra, although it is now known that his work is based on older Indian or Greek sources.

I'm almost positive Ed was just being an arrogant prick to Hani. Ed plays dumb but he's actually a very smart guy. Right before he made that statement about Algebra he also called Karami, Karabi and allowed Hani to correct him. The day prior when Ed asked Buddy to give up their new informant Ed correctly called him Karami.
So any misrepresentation about history or who created what was more about Ed just being a prick and saying whatever he wanted and how he wanted to make his point.