Inventing a Quagmire

Opinion Journal - Best of the Web ^ | 08/11/03 | JAMES TARANTO

[Pokey78]

An article on Sunday about attacks on the American military in Iraq over the previous two days, attributed to military officials, included an erroneous account that quoted Pfc. Jose Belen of the First Armored Division. Private Belen, who is not a spokesman for the division, said that a homemade bomb exploded under a convoy on Saturday morning on the outskirts of Baghdad and killed two American soldiers and their interpreter. The American military's central command, which releases information on all American casualties in Iraq, said before the article was published that it could not confirm Private Belen's account. Later it said that no such attack had taken place and that no American soldiers were killed on Saturday.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Part Seven of the Quagmire in Baghdad Series

Lol! New name for the NY Times war news.

Before we went to Afghanistan, during the anthrax crisis post-911 when the postal union members were condemning the CIC for 'forcing' them to work in the unsafe conditions at post offices, I called a senior postal inspector at a clearing center targeted by the bad guys and thanked him for staying on the job. He said he and many others at the post office were Vietnam Vets and former police officers who would risk their lives for their country - who watched their fellow officers die on 9-11, were praying for the troops getting ready to go into Afghanistan.

About the postal union critics all across our news outlets - he said, "before we bomb Afghanistan, we should bomb the NY Times."

[jbstrick]

Digity! Digity!

[NEWwoman]

it's hard not to interpret this latest foul-up as reflecting an unhealthy eagerness to believe Iraq is a quagmire producing large numbers of casualties

Thanks for the post and the ping. I was watching FoxNews - O'Reilly Factor - and though they did not use the "Q" word, the Talking Points memo today did indicate just that. But reading this post, it makes me wonder what is really going on.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the ping.

With the internet and reality checks, the NY Slimes is doomed to print lies and have those lies shoved back into their lying faces from now until the Slimes disappears.

Their leftwing culture is nothing but lies, undocumented sources and wild A$$ ventures like the Yellow Cake Scam.

[TEXOKIE]

Thanks for the ping, Ragtime Cowgirl! NYT is becoming more and more blatant, and by God's grace, more transparent in its schemes to undermine this nation. God grant our people vision and the ability to see the truth!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Amen, TEXOKIE.

I hear Spain doesn't treat their reporters as celebrities or their 'news' as gospel. We can learn some things from Europe.

[TEXOKIE]

Good point! The stench of celebrity has for far too long tainted too many of our talking heads here.

[windchime]

Bump!